Skip directly to local search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options
CDC Home

Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012

Etymologia

Etymologia: Ehrlichia

Suggested citation for this article

Ehrlichia [ār-lik′e-ə]

Named in honor of German scientist Paul Ehrlich, Ehrlichia is a genus of gram-negative bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae. Although Ehrlich was not a bacteriologist and was primarily known for his work in hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, the species Ehrlichia kurlovi was proposed in 1937 by Russian rickettsiologist Sh. D. Moshkovsky.

In 1889, Mikhail Georgiyevich Kurloff, perhaps working with Ehrlich, published a description of atypical granules in guinea pig leukocytes. These granules were assumed to be normal; rickettsiae would not be discovered for several decades. In his 1937 paper, Moshkovsky recognized the guinea pig granules as rickettsial inclusion bodies and named the genus “in honor of Paul Ehrlich, since it was in his laboratory that the first representatives of this group were discovered, and because he has contributed so much to the study of the morphology of the blood and of the agents of infectious diseases.”

References

  1. Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 2012.
  2. Dumler JS, Walker DH. Ehrlichia chaffeensis (human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (human granulocytotropic anaplasmosis), and other Anaplasmataceae. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, editors. Principles and practices of infectious diseases, 7th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2010. p. 2531–8.
  3. Moshkovsky SD. Sur l’existence chez le cobaye d’une rickettsiose chronique déterminée par Ehrlichia (Rickettsia) kurlovi.CR Soc Biol.1937;126:37982.
  4. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1908, Ilya Mechnikov, Paul Ehrlich. Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1901–1921. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company; 1967.
  5. Silverstein AM. On the naming of rickettsiae after Paul Ehrlich.Bull Hist Med. 1998;72:7313 and. DOIPubMed

Suggested citation for this article: Etymologia: Ehrlichia. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2012 Dec [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1812.ET1812

DOI: 10.3201/eid1812.ET1812

Related Links

Top of Page

Table of Contents – Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012

Comments to the EID Editors

Please contact the EID Editors via our Contact Form.

 

Past Issues

Select a Past Issue:

podcast icon






Outbreak of a New Strain of Flu at a Fair

Listen now or download MP3

Length: 9:43



CDC 24/7 – Saving Lives, Protecting People, Saving Money. Learn More About How CDC Works For You…

USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web PortalDepartment of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention   1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348 - Contact CDC–INFO