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Special feature: Bacterial Diseases in History

Bacteria existed long before humans evolved, and bacterial diseases probably co-evolved with each species. 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 of the highlights in the history of microbiology are listed here (Source: St. Louis Community College); a similar site on Ancient microbiological history is provided by Washington State Uni. An overview of the microbiological discoveries over the last 25 years identified a number of bacterial causes to well-known and lesser known diseases (Source:MicroTextBook). Known and newly-discovered bacteria can be blamed for new and old diseases; and Alzheimer may be the next on the list (Source: BBC News).

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 (Source: D.E. Wright). See this display about emerging infectious disease in ancient and modern times (Source: College of Physicians Philadelphia).

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 treats this subject to great depth. We know that tuberculosis was a common and deadly disease in the past (Source: Natl. Tuberculosis Center). Epidemics raged over countries: see this impressive list of past epidemics in the US prior to 1918 (Source: Cyndi's List). Epidemics didn't stop at borders, followed trade routes, and could wipe out a considerabel proportion of inhabitants. The results were often devastating, and treatment was limited due to lack of knowledge. Here is a brief history of infectious diseases and epidemics (Source: Bayer). Besides historical records, examination of human remains can identify infections that the unfortunate individual suffered from (Source: Inside Binghamton Uni).

Epidemics: a treatise about Benjamin Rush, Yellow Fever and the birth of modern medicine (by B. Arnebeck).
Infectious diseases in their historical context : plague, smallpox, cholera, typhoid, and typhus (by F. Coackley).
Eradication of smallpox, how did they do it? Test your knowledge while reading about the largest achievement in vaccine history (A. Cann).
Diseases from the past made visible: archeological investigation of a mass grave in Halifax (Source: Cnews.com).
Infectious diseases were the major cause of child death. Graveyards tell their story (Source: National Park Service).

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 (Source: CNN) and Ramses V may have died from small pox (The history of the World Health Organization by John Davis). Alexander the Great died of an infection of the lungs, possibly pneumoniae or TB; before him, his dear friend Hephaistion probably died of typhoid fever, according to the symptoms described of his death bed. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, a Roman Emporer, died (in 169 AD), with thousands of his soldiers and citizens, during an epidemic of presumably measles or smallpox (both viral infections). The conquistadores in the newly-discovered America's used their weapons freely, however their diseases were their strongest weapons (Source: Palomar College). Measles is still a deadly dangerous disease in the absence of vaccination (Source: CDC, this is a PDF). Amadeus Mozart may have died of rheumatic fever which is caused by a prior infection (Source: Cornell News).Several famous people (for instance the composer Franz Schubert (Source: Naxos Digital Services) suffered from syphilus, which was lethal in pre-antibiotic days.

Clearly, epidemics are not something of the past. We have new and old diseases to combat. But those massive killing known from historian times are no longer common in most parts of the world. This was mainly achieved by vaccination. But 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. Read how C. Nicolle deserved his Nobel prize with his quest for the organism causing typhus (now known to be caused by Rickettsiae) (Nobel E museum).

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, here is an alert for meningitis (Source: WHO).

The content of this page is copyright of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria and was written by Dr. T. M. Wassenaar (curator), with support of the Foundation for Bacteriology.
Special Feature files cover various aspects of bacteria, bacteriology, and bacterial diseases and were produced with support from

The Waksman Foundation for Microbiology.

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Page last modified: 08 Mar 2005

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