Ok,...who had WW1 trench disease for July?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/very-rare-world-war-illness-084752344.html
Trench fever is characterized by relapsing fever, bone pain (particularly in the shins), headache, nausea, vomiting and malaise. Some of those infected can develop skin lesions or a life-threatening infection of their heart valves.
The condition is caused by the bacterium Bartonella quintana, a close relative of the bug that causes cat scratch fever. Colonies of it live in the digestive systems of body lice and are excreted in their feces. The bugs can enter the body through a scratch in the skin or through the eyes or nose. Dried lice feces can be infectious for up to 12 months.
Trench fever is most commonly diagnosed among people experiencing homelessness or living in conditions where good hygiene is difficult. Those with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk.
Public health officials are trying to find a common thread among the four cases identified so far in Colorado. They occurred months apart, and the patients appear to have no connection other than having been homeless in the Denver area.
Other cases of the disease may have been overlooked. This outbreak comes, after all, at a time when much attention is being diverted to the coronavirus pandemic. But the economic fallout of that crisis could be fueling the outbreak of an illness that thrives on hardship.
Trench fever can be an easy diagnosis to miss, Barron said. Patients often have other health problems that could explain their symptoms, and doctors will try to rule out the more common causes before considering a rare one.
Moreover, the bacteria grow very slowly in lab cultures—it can take up to 21 days, and labs usually discard cultures after seven days. Barron said the bacteria in two of the confirmed cases grew just before the cell cultures were due to be thrown out.
Doctors will often treat the symptoms of a disease like trench fever with antibiotics. If the patient heals, it’s possible no tests will be pursued to determine the organism causing the illness, said Dr. Kristy Murray, an infectious disease specialist with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
“With this particular disease, unless you work in a setting where you’re with the homeless all the time, you’re not thinking about it or looking for it,” she said. “It is very rare.”
Nonetheless, in recent years, outbreaks have occurred in San Francisco and Seattle homeless camps.