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. 2003 Jun;93(6):886-93.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.6.886.

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

David M Morens  1
Affiliations

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

David M Morens. Am J Public Health. 2003 Jun.

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.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Félix Vicq-d’Azyr (1748–1794), protoepidemiologist and physician to Louis XVI. Image courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Claude Bourgelat (1719–1779), director of the World’s first veterinary school in Lyon. Image courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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