THE GREEK INTERPRETERS

On March 5th, 2009, eighteen members of the Greek Interpreters met at Hershey's Steak and Seafood restaurant in East Lansing for our Winter meeting. The story on which the evening's quiz and discussion focussed was "The Adventure of the Dying Detective". According to our records, this seems to be the first meeting at which this episode from the canon has been examined. Following an excellent dinner of prime rib ora seafood skewer, the meeting opened with the customary Canonical Toasts to Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft Holmes, the second Mrs. Watson and The Woman. A resolution of the quiz was carried out by Bill Reusch (the chemist).

     

Attention was drawn to a fascinating article, The Sumatran Devil, written by Alan Saunders. In this essay he argues that the Giant Rat of Sumatra, referred to in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" can now be identified as Rhizomys sumatrensis, the Great Sumatran Bamboo Rat. This rodent was likely a host for some form of blood-feeding insect or tick which transmitted the deadly Tapanuli Fever disease. The Matilda Briggs may have been carrying a consignment of these rats for experimental use by Culverton Smith on his return to England, and foundered when the crew was accidentally infected by Tapanuli Fever. In his consultantship with Morrison, Morrison and Dodd Holmes became familiar with this desease, but was unable to connect Culverton Smith directly to the ships loss. The full article, which presents a well-developed case for this interpretation may be found at the Lamasery link on our home page. This site, which is maintained by the Saunders Family of Staines, Middlesex, UK, is well worth a visit.

Tropical disease specialist William A. Sodeman identified 'Tapanuli fever' as melioidosis [PMID 8304578], a conclusion supported by physician Setu K. Vora. Melioidosis (also called Whitmore disease or Nightcliff gardener's disease) is an infectious disease caused by a Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, found in soil and water. It is an important public health problem in endemic areas, particularly in Thailand and northern Australia, where it exists in acute and chronic forms.
The causative organism, Burkholderia pseudomallei, was thought to be a member of the Pseudomonas genus and was previously known as Pseudomonas pseudomallei. This organism is phylogenetically related closely to Burkholderia mallei, the organism that causes glanders. Without access to appropriate antibiotics (principally ceftazidime or meropenem), the septicemic form of melioidosis has a mortality rate that exceeds 90%. With appropriate antibiotics, the mortality rate is about 10% for uncomplicated cases but up to 80% for cases with bacteraemia or severe sepsis. There are only few unusual cases documented for person-to-person transmission; no isolation is required for patients with melioidosis. Lab workers should handle Burkholderia pseudomallei under BSL-3 isolation conditions, as laboratory acquired melioidosis has occurred.


The meeting concluded with the reading of Vincent Starrett's "221B" poem, followed by our singing of The Anthem.