Hannibal’s Ophthalmia—A New Answer to An Ancient Question

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Denholm, Justin T. ; Hunt, Patrick N.
• Description:
  In the spring of 217 |, shortly after Hannibal’s famous elephantborne crossing of the Alps, the general was afflicted by an acute, painful eye condition that has never been adequately explained and that led to permanent unilateral loss of vision in 1 eye. In modern times, scant attention has been given to understanding this condition. We review the historical and geographic evidence and consider possible infective explanations for Hannibal's condition, including elephant-associated zoonoses. Ultimately, we suggest that a keratitis from waterborne organisms, such as | spp. or | spp., might provide the best answer to this ancient enigma.
• Subjects:
  Acanthamoeba Keratitis Historical Review
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 27(1):223-225
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7774543
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Name as Subject:
  Hannibal, 247 B.C.-182 B.C. ; Hannibal, 247 B.C.-182 B.C.
• Genre:
  Historical Review
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:230c78295a9ce58077afd2c804b88a1c065271c47e8de0af42ed574c194e8831
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/99967/cdc_99967_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 298.71 KB ]