| Date | 1873 |
| Author | Hansen |
| Contribution | Saw microbes in lymph nodes of leprosy cases. |
| Reference | Birch |
| Notes | Birch, C.A., Hansen's Bacillus. Practitioner, 210: 443, 1973; cited in unpublished essay by P. F. Mange. The finding was not published until the following year; see 1874. Lymph node tissue often becomes abnormal in leprosy, and, if true in this case, would have lent added significance to the finding. Hansen had been dealing with leprosy patients since 1868, and by 1872 was convinced that it was an infectious disease. He later claimed to have seen the bacilli in 1870 or 1871, but also acknowledged uncertainty about the time and place. There is evidence that he began to look for microbes (in blood) in 1871 or 1872, found them (in leprous nodules) 28 February 1873, and submitted his report to the Norwegian Medical Society in the fall of 1873. See 1871,1879. |
| Category | Causation |
| Pathogen Class | Bacteria |
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