Genus of gram-negative, aerobic coccobacilli of the family Brucellaceae, named after Sir David Bruce (1855–1931), a Scottish physician who served abroad with the Royal Army Medical Corps. He investigated Malta fever, a mysterious undulating fever that affected many British soldiers. In 1887 Dr. Bruce established a causal relationship between the disease and an organism later designated Brucella melitensis (from Malta). Brucella spp. include animal parasites and pathogens, transmissible to humans through dairy products or contact with infected animal tissue.
Footnotes
Sources: Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary, 31st ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier; 2007; http://www.whonamedit.com