Rickettsialpox is a mite-borne infectious illness caused by bacteria of the Rickettsia genus (Rickettsia akari). Physician Robert Huebner and self-trained entomologist Charles Pomerantz played major roles in identifying the etiology of the disease after an outbreak in 1946 in a New York City apartment complex, documented in medical writer Berton Roueché's short story, "The Alerting of Mr. Pomerantz."