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Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. [1] [2] First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on its cell surface primarily due to the presence of mycolic acid.
In 2008, evidence for tuberculosis infection was discovered in human remains from the Neolithic era dating from 9,000 years ago, in Atlit Yam, a settlement in the eastern Mediterranean. [7] This finding was confirmed by morphological and molecular methods; to date it is the oldest evidence of tuberculosis infection in humans.
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch (/ k ɒ x / KOKH; [1] [2] German: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈkɔx] ⓘ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist.As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he is regarded as one of the main founders of modern bacteriology.
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, [7] is a contagious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. [1] Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs , but it can also affect other parts of the body. [ 1 ]
After doing so, he injected animals with the bacteria and found M. tuberculosis rods in their tissues. But he also discovered that a non-infected animal that was housed with an infected animal would also die of tuberculosis. The bacteria was also found in their tissue. Koch then stated that tuberculosis could be spread from human to human. [70]
Elizabeth Bugie Gregory (October 5, 1920 – April 10, 2001) was an American biochemist who co-discovered Streptomycin, the first antibiotic against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Selman Waksman laboratory at Rutgers University. [1] Waksman went on to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1952 and took the credit for the discovery.
A definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis can only be made by culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms from a specimen taken from the patient (most often sputum, but may also include pus, CSF, biopsied tissue, etc.). [1] A diagnosis made other than by culture may only be classified as "probable" or "presumed".
Mycobacterium tuberculosis of the meninges is the cardinal feature and the inflammation is concentrated towards the base of the brain. [6] When the inflammation is in the brain stem subarachnoid area, cranial nerve roots may be affected. The symptoms will mimic those of space-occupying lesions. [7]