hired to the staff of the Hygienic Laboratory in 1916. Her most notable contribution was
refinement of the complement-fixation serological test used primarily in testing for
antibodies stimulated by rickettsial infections such as typhus and Q fever. She
collaborated with the Rickettsial Unit during the initial investigations of Q fever and,
during World War II, on the typhus vaccine studies. She appeared as author and co-
author on many of the publications related to these studies (35). The name of Dr. Sarah E.
Branham (Branhamella species) is closely associated with the early studies of the genus
Neisseria (gram negative, bean-shaped bacteria in pairs – one species, Branhamella
catarrhalis, a bacterium found in the throat is named for her) in which she illuminated the
taxonomy, described a new species in meningitis, explored properties of immune sera,
and especially distinguished the three basic serotypes of the meningococcus (36).
Another widely recognized longtime association has been that of Dr. Margaret Pittman
with the genus Hemophilus (e. g. influenzae and various other similar species, and
Bordetella pertussis or whooping cough) and with various aspects of pertussis (37). She
continued to contribute to pertussis (whooping cough) following relocation from
NIH/Division of Infectious Diseases to FDA’s Bureau of Biologics and even after
retirement.
In early December 1942, a trapper’s wife (38) living on the Little Chenier in the
isolated coastal bayou country of Louisiana came down with an apparent form of
pneumonia, was transferred to a sanitarium 120 miles inland and died several weeks later.
A local epidemic spread rapidly in the Louisiana parishes from this index case, including
the patient’s nurse. Most of the symptomatic persons died from similar lung