Notable people · Scientist · Physician
Howard Taylor Ricketts
Born in Findlay, Ricketts showed that the Rocky Mountain wood tick carries Rocky Mountain spotted fever and found its cause. He died of typhus in Mexico City at 39 while studying that disease.
At a glance
- Born
- 1871-02-09
- Died
- 1910-05-03
- Known as
- Scientist, Physician
- Organizations
- Northwestern University, University of Chicago
Life story
Howard Taylor Ricketts was born in Findlay in 1871. He became a pathologist, starting with research on the fungal disease blastomycosis at Northwestern University.
He then worked in Montana's Bitterroot Valley and at the University of Chicago on Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He showed that the Rocky Mountain wood tick spreads it and identified the germ that causes it. He sometimes injected himself with germs to study their effects.
In 1910 he went to Mexico City to study a typhus outbreak known there as tabardillo, caught typhus and died on May 3, 1910. A whole family of bacteria, the Rickettsiaceae, carries his name, and his work led to the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.
Timeline
- 1871-02-09: Born (Findlay, OH) source
- 1900s: Studies blastomycosis at Northwestern University (years not given in the source) (Chicago, IL) source
- 1900s: Works in the Bitterroot Valley on Rocky Mountain spotted fever; shows ticks carry it (Montana) source
- 1910-05-03: Dies of typhus in Mexico City (Mexico City) source
- 1912: Family founds the Howard Taylor Ricketts Prize at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) source
What Howard is known for
- Identified the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and showed ticks spread it
- Rickettsia bacteria are named for him
- Research establishing the tick as carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Honors and things named for them
- Rickettsiaceae and Rickettsiales named for him
- Howard Taylor Ricketts Prize, University of Chicago (1912)
Ohio places
Where Howard Taylor Ricketts was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Findlay, Hancock County ZIP 45840 · Findlay · Hancock County
- Worked: Chicago, Cook (Illinois) County
- Worked: Hamilton, Montana, Ravalli (Montana) County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Howard Taylor Ricketts birth/death; career; Rocky Mountain spotted fever; Rickettsiales named; self-experiments; Ricketts Prize 1912