Vol. 23, No. 4
Printed in U.S.A.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of SYSTEMATIC BACTERIOLOGY
October 1973, p. 472
Copyright 0 1973 International Association of Microbiological Societies
Opinion 47
Conservation of the Specific Epithet avium in the Scientific
Name of the Agent of Avian Tuberculosis
Editorial Secretary (for the Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematic
Bacteriology)
Although the first validly published and legitimate name given to the agent of
avian tuberculosis was Bacillus tuberculosis-gallinarum Sternberg 1892, the name
that has been used for this organism for decades is Mycobacterium avium
Chester 1901. Despite there being some question concerning the validity of
publication of the name M . avium Chester and regardless of the fact that the
specific epithet avium is illegitimate because it is antedated by tuberculosisgallinarum, the Judicial Commission, in the interest of stability in nomenclature,
conserved aviurn against tuberculosis-gallinarum and all earlier objective
synonyms in the scientific name of the agent of avian tuberculosis. Although
Chester used the name “Mycobacteriurn avium (Kruse) Lehmann and Neumann”
for this organism, subsequent authors have attributed the name M. aviurn to
Chester. The Judicial Commission also ruled that the name Mycobacterium
avium shall be held to be validly published by Chester in 1901. The neotype
strain of M. aviurn is ATCC 25291.
The agent of avian tuberculosis was initially
described by Maffucci (6). However, Maffucci
did not give the organism a scientific name but
merely referred t o it by vernacular names. The
first to apply a scientific name to this organism
was Sternberg (7), who called it Bacillus
tuberculosis galinarum. This name was validly
published and legitimate. The specific epithet,
although consisting of two words, conveys a
single idea, tuberculosis of chickens, and is
therefore legitimate; it merely needs to be
hyphenated. In 1901 Chester (1) used the name
“Mycobacterium aviurn (Kruse) Lehmann and
Neumann” to refer to Maffucci’s organism. It is
impossible to determine how Chester came to
use this name, for both Kruse ( 3 ) and Lehmann
and Neumann (4) used the specific epithet
“tuberculosis avium,” not avium by itself.
Nevertheless, the name Mycobacterium avium
has been used for many years as the name of
this organism, and Chester is always cited as the
author. ATCC 2529 1 has been designated ( 2 ) as
the neotype strain of M. avium. In the interest
of stability in nomenclature, the Judicial
Commission was requested ( 5 ) to issue an
Opinion on this matter. The Judicial Commission subsequently approved, by means of a mail
ballot, the following Opinion.
Opinion 47. The specific epithet avium is
conserved against the specific epithet tubercu-
losis-gallinarum and all earlier objective synonyms in the scientific name of the agent of
avian tuberculosis. The name Mycobacterium
avium shall be held to be validly published by
Chester in 1901. The neotype strain of M .
avium Chester is ATCC 2529 1.
LITERATURE CITED
1 . Chester, F. D. 1901. A manual of determinative
bacteriology, p. 1-401. The Macmillan Co., New
York.
2. Engbaek, H. C., E. H. Runyon, and A. G. Karlson.
1971. Mycobacterium avium Chester. Designation
of the neotype strain. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol.
2 1:192-196.
3. Kruse, W. 1896. Systematik der Streptothricheen
und Bakterien, p. 48-66, 67-96, 185-526. In C.
Fliigge (ed.), Die Mikroorganismen, vol. 2. F. C. W.
Vogel, Leipzig, Germany.
4 . Lehmann, K. B., and R. Neumann. 1896. Atlas und
Grundriss der Bakteriologie und Lehrbuch der
speciellen bakteriologischen Diagnostik, vol. 2. J.
F. Lehmann, Munich, Germany.
5 . Lessel, E. F. 1971. Mycobacterium avium Chester.
Request for an Opinion. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol.
21 :190-191.
6. Maffucci, A. 1892. Die Hiihnertuberculose. Z. Hyg.
Infektionskr. 11:445486.
7. Sternberg, G. M. 1892. Manual of bacteriology. W.
Wood and Co., New York.
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