Rate Bite Fever Is Rare, Little-Known

Health officials told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News South Sound Bureau Chief Richard Thompson that test results confirmed Rat Bite Fever was the cause of death.

The woman was pronounced dead on arrival when her friends brought her to Capital Medical Center in Olympia.

MORE ON THIS STORY Rat Bite Fever Info From National Institutes Of Health

"If you start having flulike illness after you've been bitten by a rat, you might want to check with your doctor," said Dr. Diana Yu, Thurston County Health Director. "It may not be the flu, it may be Rat Bite Fever."

Some owners of pet rats were stunned to learn of the disease.

"I think they're great pets. They're soft and sweet and cuddly," one rat owner told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News South Sound Bureau Chief Richard Thompson.

Rate Bite Fever can be spread by bites or by ingesting rat droppings. It is rare in the U.S.

People infected with it usually suffer fever, chills, headache and muscle pain within 10 days, followed by a rash. Large joints may become swollen.

If untreated, complications such as infection of heart valves can occur. It's fatal in 10 to 30 percent of untreated cases.

Doctors say it is easily treatable, however, and curable with penicillin.