Willy Burgdorfer

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Willy Burgdorfer, 1978.
Willy Burgdorfer preparing ticks, 1954.

William "Willy" Burgdorfer (* 27. June 1925 in Basel , † 17th November 2014 in Hamilton , Montana ) was from Switzerland originating American bacteriologist and Parasitologist . The focus of his research was on bacterial zoonoses . In 1981 he discovered the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis , the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi .

Life

Burgdorfer was the son of Karl and Else Burgdorfer. After attending school in Basel , he studied zoology , bacteriology , entomology , parasitology and hygiene at the University of Basel from 1944 . In 1951 he was the transfer of the tick relapsing fever by soft ticks doctorate , his doctor father was Rudolf Geigy .

First as a scholarship holder, he then moved to the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) in Hamilton (Montana) , where he initially researched Rickettsia rickettsii , the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever . Later research was devoted to other zoonoses such as Colorado tick fever , the transmission of Yersinia pestis - the causative agent of the plague - by fleas, the transmission of the yellow fever virus and the life cycle of Francisella tularensis .

During the microscopic examination of deer ticks ( Ixodes scapularis , then delimited as a separate species ( Ixodes dammini )) due to suspected Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases, in 1981 Burgdorfer found other bacteria instead of the rickettsia that caused Rocky Mountain spotted fever : spirochetes . Burgdorfer correctly assumed to have identified the long-sought pathogen of Lyme borreliosis . In the blood serum of affected patients antibodies could be detected against the pathogen. The results were published in Science in 1982 , the pathogen was named Borrelia burgdorferi after the first Lyme borreliosis symposium in 1983 in Yale in honor of Burgdorfers . The identification of the pathogen enabled further research into the transmission of the pathogen and therapy of Lyme borreliosis.

Burgdorfer retired in 1986, but worked as a scientist at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory for another 15 years. He has published over 200 articles for professional journals in his career.

Willy Burgdorfer was first married to Gertrude "Dale" See († 2005) from 1953. The sons Bill and Carl emerged from the marriage. In 1957, he became a US citizen. His second marriage was to Lois Rohr. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease in Hamilton, Montana, on November 17, 2014 .

Awards (selection)

Fonts (selection)

  • Analysis of the course of infection in Ornithodorus moubata (Murray) and the natural transmission of Spirochaeta duttoni. In: Acta Tropica 1951, Vol. 8, Issue 3, pp. 196-262. (Dissertation)
  • Hemolymph test. A technique for detection of rickettsiae in ticks. In: Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. Volume 19, Number 6, 1970, pp. 1010-1014, PMID 4992724 .
  • with AG Barbour, SF Hayes, JL Benach, E. Grunwaldt, JP Davis: Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis ?. In: Science . Volume 216, Number 4552, 1982, pp. 1317-1319, PMID 7043737 .
  • Discovery of the Lyme disease spirochete and its relation to tick vectors. In: Yale J Biol Med. Volume 57, Number 4, 1984, pp. 515-520, PMID 6516454 PMC 2590008 (free full text).
  • How the discovery of Borrelia burgdorferi came about. In: Clinics in Dermatology . Volume 11, Number 3, pp. 335-338, PMID 8221514 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c William Yardley: Willy Burgdorfer, Who Found Bacteria That Cause Lyme Disease, Is Dead at 89. In: The New York Times , November 19, 2014. (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Interview with Willy Burgdorfer for the Oral Histories Archive of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , 2001 (PDF file, 350 kB)
  3. ^ W. Burgdorfer, AG Barbour, SF Hayes, JL Benach, E. Grunwaldt, JP Davis: Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis ?. In: Science. 216, 1982, pp. 1317-1319, PMID 7043737 .
  4. ^ Willy Burgdorfer dies at 89; discovered bacteria causing Lyme disease In: Los Angeles Times . 20th November 2014.
  5. ↑ Schaudinn Hoffmann plaque - award winner . Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  6. ^ Robert Koch Gold Medal . Retrieved November 22, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Burgdorfer, Willy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burgdorfer, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American bacteriologist and parasitologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH 17th November 2014
Place of death Hamilton , Montana , United States