Characterizing a "new" disease: epizootic and epidemic anthrax, 1769-1780

American Journal of Public Health
David M Morens

Abstract

In 1876, Robert Koch established anthrax as the first disease linked to a microbial agent. But Koch's efforts had followed more than 150 years of scientific progress in characterizing anthrax as a specific human and veterinary disease. Focusing on France and the period between 1769 and 1780, this brief review examines noteworthy early events in the characterization of anthrax. It suggests that some "new" diseases like anthrax might be "discovered" not only by luck, brilliance, or new technologies, but by clinical/epidemiological "puzzle-fitting," which can assemble a cohesive picture of a seemingly specific disease entity. If such processes have operated over 2 or more centuries, studying them may yield clues about desirable interactions between epidemiology/public health and experimental science in the characterization of new diseases.

References

Sep 15, 1991·American Journal of Epidemiology·D M Morens, A R Katz
Oct 25, 2002·Emerging Infectious Diseases·David M Morens

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Citations

Jun 23, 2009·Journal of Neurology·J van Gijn
Nov 11, 2008·The Lancet Infectious Diseases·David M MorensAnthony S Fauci
Feb 3, 2012·The New England Journal of Medicine·Anthony S Fauci, David M Morens
Jun 10, 2011·The Journal of Infectious Diseases·David M MorensJeffery K Taubenberger
Dec 19, 2013·Journal of Immunotoxicology·Berrin Zuhal Altunkaynak, Elvan Ozbek
Oct 15, 2014·Social Science & Medicine·Robert G WallaceMollie Holmberg

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