Coenurosis, also known as caenurosis, coenuriasis, gid or sturdy, is a parasitic infection that develops in the intermediate hosts of some tapeworm species (Taenia multiceps, T. serialis, T. brauni, or T. glomerata). It is caused by the coenurus, the larval stage of these tapeworms. The disease occurs mainly in sheep and other ungulates, but it can also occur in humans by accidental ingestion of tapeworm eggs. Adult worms of these species develop in the small intestine of the definitive hosts (dogs, foxes and other canids), causing a disease from the group of taeniasis. Humans cannot be definitive hosts for these species of tapeworms. History
The texts of Hippocrates describe a nervous disease of sheep consistent with the symptoms of gid, comparing its symptoms to epilepsy and describing the accumulation of bad-smelling fluid in the brain. However, it was only in the 1600s that clearer behavioural and necropsy descriptions were recorded, including the chacteristic brain cysts and early surgical methods of removal. The cause of these cysts was identified as an animal parasite in 1780 by Nathanael Gottfried Leske and Johann August Ephraim Goeze.
History
In 1877, pathologist Otto Bollinger described the presence of A. bovis in cattle, and shortly afterwards, James Israel discovered A. israelii in humans. In 1890, Eugen Bostroem isolated the causative organism from a culture of grain, grasses, and soil. After Bostroems discovery, a general misconception existed that actinomycosis was a mycosis that affected individuals who chewed grass or straw. The pathogen is still known as the “great masquerader". Bergeys Manual of Systematic Bacteriology classified the organism as bacterial in 1939, but the disease remained classified as a fungus in the 1955 edition of the Control of Communicable Diseases in Man.Violinist Joseph Joachim died of actinomycosis on 15 August 1907. The Norwegian painter Halfdan Egedius died from actinomycosis on 2 February 1899. Other animals
Actinomycosis occurs rarely in humans, but rather frequently in cattle as a disease called "lumpy jaw". This name refers to the large abscesses that grow on the head and neck of the infected animal. It can also affect swine, horses, and dogs, and less often wild animals and sheep. References
Further reading
Anderson, Clifton W.; Jenkins, Ralph H. (December 15, 1938). "Actinomycosis of the Scrotum". New England Journal of Medicine. 219 (24): 953–954. doi:10.1056/NEJM193812152192403. Codman, E. A. (August 11, 1898). "A Case of Actinomycosis". The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. 139 (6): 134–135. doi:10.1056/NEJM189808111390606. Randolph HL Wong; Alan DL Sihoe; KH Thung; Innes YP Wan; Margaret BY Ip; Anthony PC Yim (June 2004). "Actinomycosis: an often forgotten diagnosis". Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 12 (2): 165–7. doi:10.1177/021849230401200218. PMID 15213087. S2CID 9930882. Review
Munro, John C. (September 13, 1900).