Howard Taylor Ricketts (February 9, 1871 – May 3, 1910) was an American

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

after whom the family

Rickettsiaceae The Rickettsiaceae are a family of bacteria. The genus ''Rickettsia'' is the most prominent genus within the family. The bacteria that eventually formed the mitochondrion (an organelle in eukaryotic cells) is believed to have originated from thi ...

and the order

Rickettsiales The Rickettsiales, informally called rickettsias, are an order of small Alphaproteobacteria. They are obligate intracellular parasites, and some are notable pathogens, including '' Rickettsia'', which causes a variety of diseases in humans, and ...

are named. He was born in

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in Hancock County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. Its population was 40,313 at the 2020 United Sta ...

. In the early part of his career, Ricketts undertook research at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

blastomycosis Blastomycosis, also known as Gilchrist's disease, is a fungal infection, typically of the lungs, which can spread to brain, stomach, intestine and skin, where it appears as crusting purplish warty plaques with a roundish bumpy edge and central ...

. He later worked in the

Bitterroot Valley The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States. Geography The valley extends approximately from Lost Trail Pass in I ...

of Montana and at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally Petechial rash, made up of small s ...

. This early pathology, entomology and epidemiology research in

Hamilton, Montana Hamilton is a city that serves as the county seat of Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hamilton was founded by Copper Kings, copper king Marcus Daly in the la ...

led to the eventual formation of the

Rocky Mountain Laboratories Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) is part of the NIH Intramural Research Program and is located in Hamilton, Montana. Operated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, RML conducts research on maximum containment pathogens su ...

there. While in Montana, Ricketts and his assistant discovered that the

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

that carried the

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

for Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a tick, the Rocky Mountain wood tick (''

Dermacentor andersoni ''Dermacentor andersoni'', commonly known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick, is a hard tick, or member of the Ixodidae family, with three life stages including larvae, nymph, and finally adult, or, more entomologically, imago. This tick is genera ...

''; some other species of ticks, such as the American dog or wood tick, ''

Dermacentor variabilis ''Dermacentor variabilis'', also known as the American dog tick or wood tick, is a species of tick that is known to carry bacteria responsible for several diseases in humans, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia (''Francisella tul ...

'', also are vectors). It was not at once clear what kind of organism the pathogen was; eventually it was named ''

Rickettsia ''Rickettsia'' is a genus of nonmotile, gram-negative, nonspore-forming, highly pleomorphic bacteria that may occur in the forms of cocci (0.1 μm in diameter), bacilli (1–4 μm long), or threads (up to about 10 μm long). The genus was n ...

'', the first of the

to be identified. However, for decades, until electron microscopy and other technologies became sufficiently advanced, it was not known whether Rickettsiales were bacteria, viruses, or something in between. They now are known to be bacteria specialised for intracellular parasitism. Ricketts was devoted to his research and, on several occasions, injected himself with pathogens to study their effects. The pathogen causing Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ''

Rickettsia rickettsii ''Rickettsia rickettsii'' is a Gram-negative, intracellular, cocco-bacillus bacterium that was first discovered in 1902. Having a reduced genome, the bacterium harvests nutrients from its host cell to carry out respiration, making it an organo ...

'' was named after him. After this eponymous genus, the larger family and order were given their names. In 1910, Ricketts became interested in a strain of

murine The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...

-carried

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

known as ''tabardillo'' due to a major outbreak in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, and the apparent similarity of the disease to spotted fever. Days after isolating the organism that he believed caused typhus, he himself died of the disease. His last papers were written in collaboration with R. M. Wilder. Ricketts was survived by his wife, Myra Tubbs Ricketts, and children. His family established an annual student research prize, the Howard Taylor Ricketts Prize, at the

in 1912. Noteworthy recipients of the Ricketts Prize include

Julian Herman Lewis Julian Herman Lewis (May 26, 1891 – March 6, 1989) was an American pathologist. The son of a freed slave, Lewis became the first African-American associate professor at the University of Chicago in 1922. His research interests included racial ...

(1913),

Lauretta Bender Lauretta Bender (August 9, 1897 – January 4, 1987) was an American child Neuropsychiatry, neuropsychiatrist known for developing the Bender-Gestalt Test, a psychological test designed to evaluate Motor coordination, visual-motor Maturationism, ...

(1923),

Sara Elizabeth Branham Sara Elizabeth Branham Matthews (1888–1962) was an American microbiologist and physician best known for her research into the isolation and treatment of ''Neisseria meningitidis'', a causative organism of meningitis. Biography Branham was b ...

(1924), G. M. Dack (1925), and

Maurice Hilleman Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was a leading American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity. According to one estimate, his vaccines ...

(1945).

References

External links

* * *
Guide to the Howard Taylor Ricketts Papers 1891-1977
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketts, Howard Taylor American pathologists Deaths from typhus 1871 births 1910 deaths Rickettsiales People from Findlay, Ohio Northwestern University alumni University of Chicago faculty

References

Further reading

External links