Major-General Sir David Bruce (1855-1931) qualified at Edinburgh 1881 in Medicine and Bacteriology before joining the Army Medical Service. On the Mediterranean island of Malta in 1884 during an outbreak of undulating fever among the troops, he succeeded in isolating the causative agent, a small, Gram-negative, rod-shaped coccobacillus, later named Brucella sp. Brucella melitensis and three other varieties infect humans, being facultative (that is, non-obligatory) intracellular parasites causing chronic recurrent febrile illness. Bruce was Surgeon-General from 1914-18.
Last modified 8 February 2023