Microbiology: A Systems Approach 4th Edition by Marjorie Kelly Cowan

Exercise 39

Critical thinking is the ability to reason and solve problems using facts and concepts. These questions can be approached from a number of angles and, in most cases, they do not have a single correct answer.
A 38-year-old male living in Hawaii tried to rescue some of the family's belongings as the basement filled with water from nearby stream flooding. Within a few days, he developed flulike symptoms, but these symptoms rapidly cleared on their own. Several weeks later, however, he developed a painful headache and jaundice; at this point, he immediately sought medical attention. Urinalysis revealed the signs of a distinct pathogen, and serology showed he had increasing levels of IgM antibody. Explain what disease you think this man was suffering from and describe the causative agent.