Whipple's disease expert in the disease, applied novel diagnostic methods to stored tissue samples from Whipple's original patient, and demonstrated "T. whipplei" in these tissues. Whipple's disease Whipple's disease is a rare, systemic infectious disease caused by the bacterium "Tropheryma whipplei". First described by George Hoyt Whipple in 1907 and commonly considered a gastrointestinal disorder, Whipple's disease primarily causes malabsorption but may affect any part of the body including the heart, brain, joints, skin, lungs and the eyes. Weight loss, diarrhea, joint pain, and arthritis are common presenting symptoms, but the presentation can be highly variable and approximately 15% of patients do
Inclusion body disease and may develop clogged nares (nostrils), stomatitis, or secondary pneumonia. The disease can rapidly progress to produce nervous-system disorders, such as disorientation, corkscrewing of the head and neck, holding the head in abnormal and unnatural positions, rolling onto the back, or stargazing. Stomatitis, pneumonia, undifferentiated cutaneous sarcomas, lymphoproliferative disorders, and leukemia have all been observed in affected specimens. Burmese pythons generally show signs of central nervous system disease without manifestation of other clinical signs and regurgitation is seen only in boas. These are symptoms similar to those seen in specimens infected by "Chlamydia"–specifically "Chlamydophila psittaci", the so-called parrot's disease. Several