VMC 311: Systematic Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology (2+1)

History and Habitat

MORPHOLOGY

Haemophilus

• Species of the genus Haemophilus are small, non-motile, non-sporing, Gram-negative rods and filaments.
• They are characterized by their requirement of one or both of two accessory growth factors (X and V) present in blood. (Haemophilus, means blood loving) .

History

• In 1883, Koch had described a bacillus causing conjunctivitis in Egypt , eventually named H.aegypticus.
• In 1892, Pfeiffer isolated H.influenza from sputum of patients. H.parasuis was first described by Glasser in 1910. H.paragallinarum was identified by DeBlieck (1932).

Habitat

• Haemophilus species are commensals or parasites of the mucous membranes of human and animals, most commonly of the upper respiratory and lower genital tracts.
• H.somnus is part of the bacterial flora of the male and female bovine genital tract. H.paragallinarum is more closely associated with the upper respiratory tract and sinuses of sick or recovered birds.