science · 22 June 1932 · 92 years ago
death
Died 22 Jun 1932 at age 84 (born 7 Jun 1848).
Danish veterinarian who in 1897 discovered Brucella abortus (Bang's bacillus), the causative agent of contagious abortion in cattle and of brucellosis (undulant fever) in human beings. Bang's teaching, with the introduction of antiseptics, represented a watershed in veterinary surgery. Although long recognized in human medicine, antiseptics had been met with little attention by veterinaries. Bang was instrumental in showing that tuberculosis could be transmitted by cow's milk and in developing isolation techniques. He was the first to use tuberculin, discovered by Robert Koch in 1890, on cattle. He used it diagnostically, rather than therapeutically, as a means for liberating livestock of tuberculosis and to create clean breeding centres.
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