Brucellosis historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Raviteja Guddeti, M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
Historical Perspective
The disease now called brucellosis, under the name "Mediterranean fever", first came to the attention of British medical officers in Malta during the Crimean War in the 1850s. The causal relationship between organism and disease was first established by Dr. David Bruce in 1887. [1]
In 1897 Danish veterinarian Bernhard Bang isolated Brucella abortus as the agent and the additional name Bang's disease was assigned. In modern usage "Bang's disease" is often shortened to just "bangs" when ranchers discuss the disease or vaccine.
Maltese doctor and archaeologist Sir Temi Zammit identified unpasteurized milk as the major source of the pathogen in 1905, and it has since become known as Malta Fever, or deni rqiq locally. In cattle this disease is also known as contagious abortion and infectious abortion.
The popular name "undulant fever" originates from the characteristic undulance (or "wave-like" nature) of the fever which rises and falls over weeks in untreated patients. In the 20th Century, this name, along with "brucellosis" (after Brucella, named for Dr Bruce), gradually replaced the 19th Century names "Mediterranean fever" and "Malta fever".
Historical names
In addition to "Malta Fever" and "undulant fever", the following obsolete names have previously been applied to brucellosis:
- Mediterranean fever
- continued fever
- Cyprus fever
- goat fever
- Gibraltar fever
- Crimean fever
- mountain fever
- Neapolitan fever
- rock fever
- slow fever
- febris melitensis
- febris undulans
- Bruce's septicemia
- melitensis septicemia
- melitococcosis
- Brucelliasis
- Milk Sickness
References
- ↑ Wilkinson, Lise (1993). "Brucellosis", In Kiple, Kenneth F. (ed.), The Cambridge World History of Human Disease, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).