Giardia Lamblia - History

History

The trophozoite form of Giardia was first observed in 1681 by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in his own diarrhea stools. The organism was again observed and described in greater detail by Vilém Dušan Lambl in 1859, who thought the organism belonged to the genus Cercomonas and proposed the name Cercomonas intestinalis. His name is still sometimes attached to the genus or the species infecting humans. Thereafter, some have named the genus after him while others have named the species of the human form after him Giardia lamblia. In 1879, Grassi discovered a rodent parasite now known to be a Giardia species, Dimorphus muris, apparently unaware of Lambl's earlier description. In 1882 and 1883, Johann Künstler described an organism in tadpoles (possibly Giardia agilis) he named Giardia, this being the first time Giardia was used as a genus name. The genus was chosen to honour Professor Alfred Mathieu Giard of Paris. Raphaël Blanchard, in 1888, proposed the name Lamblia intestinalis, after Lambl. Stiles changed it to Giardia duodenalis in 1902 and to Giardia lamblia in 1915. The same year (1915), Kofoid and Christiansen wrote "The generic name Lamblia Blanchard 1888 should give way to Giardia Kunstler 1882 on ground of priority…" (the epithet being intestinalis) and used Giardia enterica in 1920.

The naming of the species still causes controversy. Initially, species names were based on the host of origin, leading to over 40 species. In 1922, Simon, using morphologic criteria to distinguish between Giardia lamblia and Giardia muris, accepted the name Giardia lamblia for the human species. Filice in 1922 further revised the genus when he published a detailed morphologic description of the genus Giardia and proposed that three species names be used on the basis of the morphology of the median body: Giardia agilis, Giardia duodenalis and Giardia muris.

The names for the human parasite Giardia duodenalis, Giardia lamblia and Giardia intestinalis are all in common current use despite the potential for confusion this has created.

Van Leeuwenhoek's observations were recreated, using a single-lens microscope of the kind he used, by British microbiologist Brian J. Ford, who showed how clearly one could view Giardia through a primitive microscope.

In 1998, a highly publicised Giardia and Cryptosporidium outbreak was reported in Sydney, Australia, but it was found to be due to mismeasurement of the concentrations of microbes in the water supply. A 2004 outbreak in Bergen (Norway) hastened work on adding UV treatment to the water facilities.

In October 2007, Giardia was found in the water supply for parts of Oslo, prompting authorities to advise the public to boil drinking water; but subsequent test showed levels of contamination too low to pose a threat, so this advice has since been cancelled.

In 2008, Giardia was identified as one of the causes of the dysentery afflicting Crusaders in Palestine in the 12th and 13th centuries.