The study of cholera and Max von Pettenkofer`s visit to Malta in 1868

Abstract

An "eminent natural philosopher", Dr. Max Pettenkofer, came to Malta to study the manifestations of cholera in the Island. It appears that what prompted Pettenkofer to come to Malta was the fact that the cholera epidemics of Gibraltar and of Malta had been closely followed and discussed in Munich, and his opponents had quoted these two places as illustrations of the fallacies of his soil-moisture theory. The gist of his study is that a scanty rainfall in the first five months of the year predisposed the Island to cholera epidemics but an abundant rainfall during the same period diminishes considerably the chances of cholera outbreaks on a large scale. Pettenkofer's speculations met with some opposition in Malta, particularly by Dr. A. Ghio and also by the most outspoken critic Dr. Gavino Gulia, Professor of Forensic Medicine and Natural History at our University. Dr. Gulia was convinced of the infectiousness of cholera and in support of his stand he reported the death of a follower of Pettenkofer, a Dr. Obermeyer. The latter had carried some post-mortem specimens and faeces from choleric patients to his bedroom for microscopical examination when he was attacked by the illness.