Diphtheritic stomatitis Diphtheritic stomatitis Diphtheritic stomatitis is a recently discovered disease and has thus far been reported only in Yellow-eyed penguins ("Megadyptes antipodes"). Its symptoms are similar to human diphtheria and is characterized by infecteous lesions in the mouth area that impede swallowing and cause respiratory troubles. The infection is caused by "Corynebacterium amycolatum", an aerobic Gram-positive bacterium and mainly affects very young chicks. However, it seems likely that a triggering agent (e.g. a virus) might be involved in which renders the corynebacterium a secondary pathogen. The disease has been a serious cause of mortality in the 2002 and 2004 Yellow-eyed penguin
Medieval medicine of Western Europe was one of the "leading Italian universities in teaching medicine, identification and treating of diseases and ailments, specializing in autopsies and workings of the body." The most prestigious and famous part of the university is the oldest surviving anatomical theater, in which students studied anatomy by observing their teachers perform public dissections. Surgery was formally taught in Italy even though it was initially looked down upon as a lower form of medicine. The most important figure of the formal learning of surgery was Guy de Chauliac. He insisted that a proper surgeon should have a specific knowledge of the human