Streptobacillus moniliformis

(Strep-toe-bass-ill-us mon-ill-lee-form-is)

A rod-shaped bacterium that forms a long bacillus chain.

It lives in the upper respiratory tract of rats and can be transmitted to humans. In fact, it was first isolated in 1914 as the cause of a severe disease known as rat-bite fever.

This infection used to be fatal in up to 1 out of 5 cases but can nowadays be treated with penicillin and other antibiotics.