{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T14:00:04Z","timestamp":1781186404138,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Microbiology Society","issue":"11","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>During the 1854 cholera outbreak in Florence, Italy, Filippo Pacini documented that the cause of the infection was a bacterium. This conclusion was also independently reached by John Snow during the 1854 cholera outbreak in London. By using an epidemiological method, Snow found that the infection spread through a polluted water network. Snow identified a water pump as the source of the disease. After removing the infected handle of this pump, the cases of cholera rapidly began to decrease. A microscopic examination of the water showed organic impurities but no bacteria. This discovery was ignored during Snow\u2019s lifetime. In contrast, through microscopy during the autopsies of cholera victims, Pacini observed that the disruption of their intestinal mucosa was closely associated with millions of the bacteria that he called<jats:italic><jats:named-content content-type=\"species\"><jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1601\/nm.2947\" xlink:type=\"simple\">Vibrio cholerae<\/jats:ext-link><\/jats:named-content><\/jats:italic>. Via histological techniques, Pacini detected that intestinal mucosa reabsorption dysfunction was the cause of debilitating diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration and death. Nevertheless, his discovery of<jats:italic><jats:named-content content-type=\"species\"><jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1601\/nm.2947\" xlink:type=\"simple\">Vibrio cholerae<\/jats:ext-link><\/jats:named-content><\/jats:italic>was ignored during Pacini\u2019s lifetime. A survey of Pacini\u2019s autographic manuscripts suggests that Pacini and Snow may have shared mutual knowledge within their respective seminal papers. This survey also facilitates, for the first time, the creation of maps that illustrate the worldwide distribution of Pacini\u2019s cholera papers from 1854 to 1881. The consistent neglect of Pacini\u2019s discovery remains a true enigma.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.001450","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]],"date-time":"2021-11-05T16:16:03Z","timestamp":1636128963000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["The enigma of Pacini\u2019s Vibrio cholerae discovery"],"prefix":"10.1099","volume":"70","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8629-1579","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gian Piero","family":"Carboni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Campus-Bio Medico University of Rome (I), Via \u00c1lvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"345","reference":[{"key":"R1","article-title":"Health topics\/Cholera","year":"2021"},{"key":"R2","article-title":"Global roadmap to 2030","year":"2021"},{"key":"R3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2020.631736"},{"key":"R4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12941-017-0185-1"},{"key":"R5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1308663"},{"key":"R6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.323.7327.1469"},{"key":"R7","volume-title":"Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues","author":"Byrne","year":"2008"},{"key":"R8","volume-title":"Sul colera asiatico che contristo\u0300 la Toscana nelli anni 1835-36-37-49: considerazioni mediche","author":"Betti","year":"1858"},{"key":"R9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/18253911-02802003"},{"key":"R10","volume-title":"Relazione e catalogo dei manoscritti di Filippo Pacini esistenti nella R. 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