Human vibriosis caused by vibrio fetus.

Abstract

Contagious abortion in cattle has been of serious concern to breeders of livestock for centuries. In 1897, Bang 1 reported that he had recovered the etiological agent, which was later designated as Brucella abortus. McFadyean and Stockman 2 confirmed this observation in England shortly thereafter, but they pointed out that not all instances of contagious abortion could be ascribed to Brucella organisms. They also incriminated a species of Vibrio known as Vibrio fetus as a cause of bovine abortion, and especially of abortion in sheep. In a series of investigations instituted later by Smith 3 in the United States, V. fetus was also found to be a common cause of abortion in cattle. Smith 4 described the characteristics of the micro-organisms in detail. In the United States, vibriosis in cattle is now looked upon as a common cause of abortion and may possibly equal, if not exceed, brucellosis in economic