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Letter
Spelling of Emerging Pathogens
John E. Moore*
and B. Cherie Millar*
*Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Suggested
citation for this article
To the Editor: Language is about comprehension; provided the parties
in a discussion can understand each other, variations in pronunciation
of individual words may be tolerated or disregarded. In modern English,
numerous examples of variant pronunciations exist that cause no problems
of comprehension (e.g., either, tomato, laboratory, fertile). These arise
from several causes; regional practice is likely the most important factor,
but the speaker's education and social background, personal preferences,
and even etymologic theories also play a part. It would be futile and,
some would feel, undesirable to attempt to impose uniformity by prescribing
approved pronunciations if communication is not endangered. Moreover,
both language and pronunciation are subject to constant change.
The same is not true regarding the spelling of organisms' names. Although
we accept variation in pronunciation, we should not accept variation in
the spelling of binomial names. Common spelling variants and the citation
frequency (PubMed) of 4 organisms, Acinetobacter baumannii, Coccidioides
immitis (the fungal causal agent of coccidioidomycosis), Coxiella
burnetii (the causal agent of Q fever), and Tropheryma whipplei
(the causal agent of Whipple disease), are detailed in the Table.
Common spelling mistakes occur with double letters (e.g., nn, ii), as
well as complicated strings of consecutive vowels (e.g., Coccidioides).
However, a defense to such criticism is that various authors have adopted
the spelling of a previous taxonomic description that has become outdated,
e.g., C. burneti (previous) and C. burnetii (current). Historic
change in the spelling of these names is the primary reason they are published
and cited in PubMed with different spellings. However, even disregarding
historic taxonomic variants, ≈14.8% of Tropheryma whipplei,
14.3% of Acinetobacter baumannii, 12.3% of Coxiella burnetii,
and 1.9% of Coccidioides citations are spelled incorrectly in PubMed.
These relatively large percentages may mean that relevant literature is
overlooked in searches.
Authors should be aware that previous taxonomic spelling of binomial
names exist and check their historic evolution in the List of Prokaryotic
Names with Standing in Nomenclature (http://www.bacterio.cict.fr).
Authors should cite previous spelling when such a change has been recent
and they may wish to include previous spellings in literature searches.
Additionally, the most current and formally accepted spelling must be
used when preparing a manuscript for publication.
The origins of incorrect and variant spellings of binomial names may
lie in an array of sources, including original mispronunciation with subsequent
incorrect phonetic transcription. Written language is rarely a phonetic
transcript of vocal acoustics, however, it interfaces with several factors
that prevent us from spelling words the way they sound. Orthography, which
promotes the practice of writing words with the proper letters according
to standard usage and conventionally correct spelling, is further complicated
by the use of Greek or Latin words, each with their own linguistic peculiarities.
Although we may not be able to standardize phonetic pronunciation of
binomial names locally, nationally, or internationally, we should be constantly
conscious of their spelling. As authors and peer reviewers, we should
strive to achieve uniformity in written media to promote enhanced communication
with our peers in infectious diseases.
References
- Bouvet PJM, Grimont PAD. Taxonomy of the genus Acinetobacter
with the recognition of Acinetobacter baumannii sp. nov., Acinetobacter
haemolyticus sp. nov., Acinetobacter johnsonii sp. nov.,
and Acinetobacter junii sp. nov. and amended descriptions of
Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Acinetobacter lwoffii.
Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1986;36:228–40.
- Stevens DA. Coccidioidomycosis.
N Engl J Med. 1995;332:1077–82.
- Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names.
Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1980;30:225–420.
- Derrick EH. Rickettsia burneti: the cause of Q-fever. Med J
Aust. 1939;1:14.
- La Scola B, Fenollar F, Fournier PE, Altwegg M, Mallet MN, Raoult
D. Description
of Tropheryma whipplei gen. nov., sp. nov., the Whipple's disease
bacillus. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2001;51:1471–9.
- Relman DA, Schmidt TM, MacDermott RP, Falkow S. Identification
of the uncultured bacillus of Whipple's disease. N Engl J Med. 1992;327:293–301.
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Table. Common spellings
of binomial names of organisms*
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Organism name
[no. citations in PubMed]*
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Spelling variants
[no. citations in PubMed]
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Date official spelling first described
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Acinetobacter baumannii [844]
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A. baumanii [117]
A. baumanni [18]
A. baumani [6]
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1986†
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Coccidioides‡ [1,209]
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Coccidiodes [17]
Coccidoides [4]
Cocidioides [2]
Coccidioidis [1]
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1896§
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Coxiella burnetii [1,531]
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C. burneti [374]
C. burnetti [199]
C. burnettii [16]
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1980¶
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Tropheryma whipplei [52]
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T. whippelii [118]
T. whippleii [5]
T. whippeli [4]
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2001#
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*Organism name in List of Bacterial Names with Standing
in Nomenclature; search conducted June 2005.
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†Approved name described by Bouvet and Grimont (ref
1).
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‡Coccidioides is not a bacterium but a fungus;
however, this name is described in the Index Fungorum.
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§First described by Stiles (ref 2).
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¶Approved name described by Skerman et al. (ref
3); first described by Derrick (ref 4)
as Rickettsia burneti, the cause of Q fever.
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#Approved names described by La Scola et al. (ref
5); 1992, Relman et al. (ref 6)
tentatively proposed the name "T. whippelii."
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Suggested citation
for this article:
Moore JE, Millar BC.
Spelling of emerging pathogens [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the
Internet]. 2005 Nov [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no11/05-0780.htm
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