Today is the birthday of the first physician to describe Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Edward Ernest Maxey, an ear, nose and throat specialist, was born on this date in 1867. Maxey described the disease in 1899. Seven years later, American pathologist Howard Taylor Ricketts showed that it is transmitted by a tick bite. Symptoms of the disease include headache, fever, rash, and nausea or vomiting and usually begin within two weeks of a tick bite. Rocky Mountain spotted fever generally responds to antibiotics. If left untreated, the disease can lead to death.

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