a rat being raised to feed a pennsylvania family's pet snakes ended up biting their 6 month old baby boy, killing him cumberland county coroner charlie hall announced thursday that the infant died from meningitis and myocarditis transmitted through the bite the family lives in the 500 block of south baltimore street in dillsburg the coroner declined to officially identify the baby to the daily mail thursday citing an ongoing investigation culprit: a rat (file photo) being raised to feed a pennsylvania family's pet snakes ended up biting their 6 month old baby boy, killing him  tragic loss: daily mail has identified him as landon kreitz, the son of justin kreitz and rachel frye  animal lovers: the boy's parents, rachel frye and justin kreitz, had multiple pet snakes at the house  hall says the child was treated at the holy street hospital emergency room december 30 for a fever and a rash and discharged home two days later, the lethargic and feverish child was brought back and died in the emergency room that dame day investigators later learned that the child had been bitten by a rat on his right index finger lab studies later revealed the baby had rat bite fever hall says police and county caseworkers are investigating the deceased child has not been publicly named, but daily mail has identified him as landon kreitz, the son of justin kreitz and rachel frye slithery pet: justin kreitz shared an image in may 2013 depicting a 'new addition' to their family: a rat snake (pictured) according to his obituary, baby landon was just two days shy of seven months when he passed away at the hospital the coroner's report suggests that the boy's parents had multiple pet snakes at the house on his facebook page justin kreitz shared an image in may 2013 depicting a 'new addition' to their family: a rat snake when daily mail reached out to the family to comment on the report, a relative picked up the phone at the house saying she was not yet ready to make a statement and referred this reporter to landon’s mother, rachel pennlivecom reported that when chief deputy coroner matt stoner called the boy's 21 year old mother to tell the family the cause of their son's death, hall said the reaction was 'ok, thanks' but the coroner pointed out that when he spoke to her, the woman sounded distraught in a brief phone interview with the daily mail, hall stated that this was the county's first rat bite fever fatality in his memory the family lives in the 500 block of south baltimore street in dillsburg  the child was treated at the holy street hospital emergency room december 30 for a fever and a rash and discharged hometwo days later, the lethargic and feverish child was brought back and died  the coroner added that criminal charges were not out of the question in connection to the baby's death, depending on the outcome of the investigation according to the us centers for disease control, rat bite fever is an infectious disease that can be caused by two different bacteriapeople usually get the disease from infected rodents or consumption of contaminated food or water
daily mail landon kreitz coroner dillsburg pennsylvania
boy identified by daily mail as landon kreitz died january 1, 2014, just two days shy of seventh months . coroner's report showed baby succumbed to meningitis and myocarditis transmitted through rat bite . infant was biting on right index finger by a rat at his parents' home in dillsburg, pennsylvania 