A six-month old Dillsburg-area, PA baby, who was bitten by a rat that was to be fed to the family’s
snakes in late December and died on New Year’s Day, was determined to have contracted rate-bite 
fever, according to Cumberland County Coroner Charley Hall Thursday. The child was taken to the 
emergency room suffering from a fever and a rash on Dec. 30 and was released after being given 
medication. On Jan.1, however, the child, now running a high feverand lethargic, was brought back 
to the hospital. The baby died in the emergency room that day, the coroner said. An autopsy on the 
child in early January determined the cause of death to be meningitis and myocarditis as a result of the bite. The coroner said police and County Children and Youth Services are investigating the death. 

The child and the family have not been identified. “Rat-bite fever” is a general term to describe two 
relatively rare bacterial infections: Streptobacillus moniliformis, also known as Haverhill fever, 
and Spirillum minor, also known as Sodoku.[EN]