Robert Huebner - Rickettsialpox

Rickettsialpox

In June and July 1945, Huebner was asked to investigate an outbreak of cases of a spotted fever that struck more than 100 New York City residents, most of whom were residents of a single apartment complex in Kew Gardens, Queens. Local physicians hadn't initially reported the cases to authorities, as most presented with a rash and fever, but recovered within two weeks without any specific treatment. The New York City Department of Health was informed after a "minor epidemic" broke out at the Queens housing complex and individuals had been sent to hospitals with violent fevers and skin lesions. The seven known rickettsial diseases were all ruled out based on tests.

Visiting the complex with self-trained entomologist Charles Pomerantz, the two peeled back wallpaper to find the walls swarming with mites, so much so that tenants had described that "the walls had movement". Huebner's investigations on the site led to the conclusion that tenants had been bitten by a mite identified as Allodermanyssus sanguineus, found on mice that infested the storerooms and incinerator areas in the buildings. After culturing and isolating the organism in laboratory mice, the pathogen they named Rickettsia akari was identified as the ultimate cause of the disease now called rickettsialpox. The Department of Health announced a program to work with building owners to exterminate the mice that were the vector for the disease.

Huebner document his findings of the new disease in a 1947 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He was recognized by the American Society of Tropical Medicine for his efforts with the Bailey K. Ashford Award in 1949, which included a $1,000 prize from Eli Lilly and Company that he later used as a down payment for a farm in Frederick, Maryland.