TABLE 1.

Historical studies investigating Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the environment (pre-1960)

First author, year [ref.]	Medium	Method of M. tuberculosis detection
Outdoor, natural environments
Feltz, 1887 [30]	Soil	Guinea pig model
Chantemese, 1888 [28]	River water	Culture of samples; guinea pig model
Straus, 1889 [29]	River water and distilled water	Culture of samples; guinea pig model
Mitchell, 1900 [31]	Soil exposed to sunlight	Guinea pig model
Indoor, built environments
Cornet, 1889 [32]	Dust from tuberculosis medical ward and walls of rooms of TB patients; dust from streets and surgical wards [controls] with no TB patients	Guinea pig model
Mitchell, 1900 [31]	Soil	Guinea pig model
Twitchell, 1905 [34]	Handkerchief, woollen blanket, wood	Culture of samples; guinea pig model
Rogers, 1920 [33]	Dust from floors in open TB wards, from a morgue floor, and windows and shelves of a morgue; lastly, a morgue floor was swept every morning	Guinea pig model
Cumming, 1920 [35]	Utensils of a TB patient; hands of a TB patient	Guinea pig model

TB: tuberculosis.