Haverhill fever /hā″vəril/ [Haverhill, Massachusetts, disorder first diagnosed, 1925] , a febrile disease caused by infection with Streptobacillus moniliformis, usually transmitted by the bite of a rat but sometimes transmitted by secretion from the mouth, nose, or urine of an infected rodent. The spirochete-like bacterium is normally present in rat saliva. Characteristically the wound from the bite heals, but within 10 days fever, chills, vomiting, headache, and muscle and joint pain occur, followed within 3 days by a rash. Treatment with antibiotics is effective. S. moniliformis is identified by laboratory analysis using fluorescent antibody screening. Also called streptobacillary rat-bite fever.
