Veterinary Clinical Medicine-I (General and Systemic)

Fracastoro and the contagion theory

FRACASTRO AND THE CONTAGION THEORY

Fracastoro, the Italian Physician suggested that the persons can contract infections even if their humors are normally balanced. He defined a contagion as a "corruption which develops in the substance of a combination, passes from one thing to another, and is originally caused by infection of the imperceptible particles". He called the particles the seminaria (seeds or seedlets) of contagion. He described how contagion can occur by direct contact, by indirect contact via clothes and other substances, and by long-distance transmission. In addition, he stated that diseases can arise within an individual spontaneously.