Show i r J STRANGE DISEASE BAFFLES I H t J SCIENCE j II i I j Ono One of o the most moat malignant and fa a 1 1 I j tal 11 diseases known to attack man has JH ja made mMe its appearance within the last I 1 few years in the mountainous regions i of Montana I and adjacent Rocky Rock moun mountain t i Lain tain states It Is 19 called spotted I fever though by br no means to be confused with epidemic meningitis which commonly goes by b that name The malady malad Is l entirely new ne un unheard 11 n heard of that Is to say Il up to years yenT ago For quite a It while I no attention was as paid to it by b tho the thoI i I health authorities save locally but bill butof I 1 of late lale It has boon boen killing BO so many 01 people that the federal government appealed to for aid IB is doing Its It best to find out the cause of oC the tho mischief and If Ii possible to a It remedy With this end In view low the public health service has bas sent several of Its It experts to the Bitter Bittel Root valley vahloy which hits hat been the scene Beene of ot tho the most serious epidemics of the disease I Spotted fever ever has hOE been known for many years In Idaho whore Is pro vails throughout almost tho the entire val valley al 1 Icy hey of the tho river Including tho the tributaries of tho the latter stream and the foothills of tho neighboring moun mountains taina It occurs also In parts parIs of Ne Nevada Nevada vada Wyoming Oregon Utah and Colorado But Bill while always serious the complaint IB la not nearly nearl so fatal in these regions as in the Bitter Root valley of northern Montana where four out of every cr five persons attack attacked ed et die dlo of It IL The infected district Is about fifty miles long and from four to ten miles wide in tho the foothills of the tuc Bitter BIller BitterRoot BitterRoot Root mountains a range along alons the tho top tel of oC runs tho the state line The disease prevails ex exclusively in in spring and early carl summer and Its most striking external mani mant manifestation manifestation Is an au eruption of small red rerI spots pimply in character which coy cov covers CO ers era almost tho the whole body Death when It ensues usually occurs be between between between tween the sixth and twelfth day of tile the illness The first important stop slop toward a n scientific investigation lon of oC the matter was IlS taken by the Montana state board of health which sought advice from Drs L 1 B II Wilson and W V M r Chown Chowning ing of tho the University of Minnesota They Tho started in to make a thorough study stull of tho the problem In the Bitter BitterRoot BitterRoot Root valley and It was not long Ions be I fore In tho the course of their Investigations lions they the tho came caine across some sus gUIS us microbes In tho the red I blood ells of the patients sick with the tho disease o rho Tho microbes were pro protozoa somewhat resembling the blood parasites already alread known to be tho the cause of ot tho the Texas fever levor over in cattle Technical World |