Bacterial Diseases in History

Written by Dr. T. M. Wassenaar Tuesday, 23 December 2008 16:36

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Bacteria existed long before humans evolved, and bacterial diseases probably co-evolved with each species which unvoluntarily hosts them. Many bacterial diseases that we see today have been around for as long as we have, others may have developed later. In either case, for the longest time we were not aware of the cause of infectious diseases. With the beginning of microbiology, bacterial pathogens became apparent.

Some interesting websites describe the early developments:

Known and newly-discovered bacteria can be blamed for new and old diseases. The most obvious diseases caused by bacteria are infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases emerged and disappeared over time. Some stayed with us, others disappeared to make a come-back, others were made extinct by human influence. The names may have changed, the diseases stayed the same. See this display about emerging and re-emieging infectious diseases.


What do we know of the bacterial diseases that bothered our ancesters? Quite a few infectious diseases are known from historical times. Probably the best known is The Black Death, or Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis. A special feature file is dedicted to the Plague only.  Tuberculosis was a major killer in Europe in the past. Tuberculosis, in combination with HIV,  still causes many deaths in Africa. Epidemics raged over countries: see this impressive list of past epidemics in the US, on which two diseases dominate that we don't frequently encounter in that country anymore: Yellow fever and Measles (both are caused by viruses). For those interested there are more lists of Epidemics and Plagues. Epidemics didn't stop at borders, followed trade routes and travellers or colonists, and could wipe out a considerabel proportion of inhabitants. The results were often devastating, and treatment was limited due to lack of knowledge. The big killers in the Americas were European diseases, often caused by viruses.

What kindled such epidemics? That depends on the causative agent. Human-to-human contact  is needed for many viruses to spread (be it Ebola or the common cold), fecal-oral contamination (most frequently  drinking water contaminated with sewage) causes most enteric disease outbreaks including cholera, whereas insects (fleas or mosquitos) may be needed for the spread of yet other diseases. Contrary to common believe,  corpses are not a common source of infection. Most post-catastrophic outbreaks are the result of lack of  clean drinking water.

In some cases we can identify with various degrees of certainty which infection caused the death or suffering of famous people. Pharao Ramses I may have suffered from Ear infection and smallpox may have brought Ramses V, queen Mary II of England, and Louis XV of France together. Alexander the Great died of an infection of the lungs, possibly causes include Westnile Virus ; before him, his dear friend Hephaistion probably died of typhoid fever, according to the symptoms described of his death bed. Amadeus Mozart may have died of rheumatic fever which is caused by a prior infection). Several famous people  suffered from syphilus, including the composer Franz Schubert, the author Karen Blixen and the painter Vincent van Gogh. The disease could be lethal in pre-antibiotic days.

Clearly, epidemics are not something of the past. We have new and old diseases to combat. But those massive killings known from historian times are no longer common in most parts of the world. This was mainly achieved by vaccination. Before vaccines could be developed, the organisms causing the disease had to be identified and characterized. That was not an easy job for a number of diseases but very few discoverers received a Nobel Prize for their efforts. The  exceptions are  Nobel-laureate C. Nicolle with his quest for the organism causing typhus (now known to be caused by Rickettsiae, not to be confused with typhoid, or enteric fever, caused by Salmonella typhi) (Nobel E museum). Plus Nobel-laureates B. Marshall and R. Warren, for their discovery of Helicobacter pylori.

A  few types of cancer are caused by microbiological infections, of which gastric cancer is associated with Helicobacter pylori. However, presence of these bacteria is not sufficent to cause cancer; multiple other factors play a role, too. For other bacteria, a possible role in causing specific cancers is even less straight-forward.

In the old days, people warned eachother that a new 'pest' was coming. Sometimes people fled with fear, and the human movement helped spreading the disease even faster. Nowadays, we have better ways of treatment, especially for bacterial infections. But even more importantly: we have faster ways of communication. Although modern-day travels helps infectious diseases cross oceans at the speed of the aircraft it travels with, the warning can spread even faster: by internet. For example, the World Health Organisation publishes  a disease outbreak alert. This way we can all be warned and informed.

Last Updated on Monday, 07 November 2011 17:45