Hugh Carithers

Hugh A. Carithers Sr. was a Jacksonville pediatrician noted as an international expert on cat-scratch disease. Dr. Carithers moved to Jacksonville in 1941 and started a medical practice, now known as The Carithers Pediatrics Group, with his wife, Cornelia. Connie Carithers ran the practice while her husband served in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. Dr. Carithers also was an adjunct professor at the University of Florida and wrote several papers on cat-scratch disease. The disease is easily treatable but often confused with leukemia. Dr. Carithers said his father was best known for helping doctors distinguish between the two.

Dr. Carithers was born in Winder, Ga., in 1913 and earned his medical degree from Emory University in 1937.