Rat bite fever caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis in a child: human infection and rat carriage diagnosed by PCR

Abstract

A child owning pet rats developed an eruptive fever with blisters, polyarthritis, and spectacular desquamation of the hands. Streptobacillus moniliformis was identified after culture of the child's blister fluid and was detected in rat samples by molecular methods. Such detection in the pet of a human victim of rat bite fever has not been reported previously.

Figure 1

Desquamation of the fingers in a patient with rat bite fever, resembling that seen in the subacute phase of Kawasaki disease.

Figure 2

Agarose gel electrophoresis of undigested polymerase chain reaction fragment (P) or after digestion with BfaI (R). DNA extracts of the pure culture from the patient (lane 1), from the mixed culture of rat pharyngeal samples (lane 2), and from the rat tracheal biopsy (lane 3). M, molecular size marker.