An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

BRUCE, Sir David

4 entries
  • 5098

Note on the discovery of a micro-organism in Malta fever.

Practitioner, 39, 161-70, 1887.

Malta fever was shown by Bruce to be due to Micrococcus (Brucella) melitensis. The disease was later named Brucellosis.



Subjects: BACTERIOLOGY › BACTERIA (mostly pathogenic; sometimes indexed only to genus), BACTERIOLOGY › BACTERIA (mostly pathogenic; sometimes indexed only to genus) › Gram-Negative Bacteria, BACTERIOLOGY › BACTERIA (mostly pathogenic; sometimes indexed only to genus) › Spirochetes › Borrelia , COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Malta, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › Brucellosis
  • 5273

Preliminary report on the tsetse fly disease or nagana, in Zululand.

Durban, South Africa: Bennett & Davis, 1895.

In 1895 Bruce found that nagana, the tsetse fly disease of Zululand, was due to a trypanosome (T. brucei). He described a hematozoon in the blood of the affected animals that had not been previously described.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › South Africa, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES › Tsetse Fly-Borne Diseases › Sleeping Sickness (African Trypanosomiasis), TROPICAL Medicine
  • 11077

Further report on the tsetse fly disease or nagana, in Zululand.

London: Harrison & Sons, 1896.

In this more-detailed follow-up to his "preliminary" paper of 1895 published in Durban, South Africa, Bruce provided definitive proof that the Trypanosoma was the cause of nagana, and the tsetse fly was the vector of transmission. He showed the part of the tsetse fly which took part in causation of nagana, described the trypanosoma, proved the connection between big game and spread of the disease, and provided a treatment for the disease (prophylactic and curative) using arsenic in the animals. 

In this paper Bruce also credited Lady Bruce, a trained laboratory technician, for help with the experiments. Sir David and Lady Bruce comprised the complete team in the "First British Nagana Commission to Zululand." Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › South Africa, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES › Tsetse Fly-Borne Diseases › Sleeping Sickness (African Trypanosomiasis), TROPICAL Medicine
  • 5277

Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission of the Royal Society, 1903-1912. 17 pts.

London: H. M. Stationery Office, 19031919.

Bruce and D.N. Nabarro were sent to Africa by the Royal Society to study sleeping sickness, and in their report they showed that the tsetse fly was the vector of trypanosomiasis. They also found that Gambia fever and sleeping sickness were two stages of the same infection.



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Africa, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES › Tsetse Fly-Borne Diseases › Sleeping Sickness (African Trypanosomiasis), TROPICAL Medicine