Opinion 47: Conservation of the Specific Epithet avium in the Scientific Name of the Agent of Avian Tuberculosis

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 tuberculosis-gallinarum, the Judicial Commission, in the interest of stability in nomenclature, conserved avium against tuberculosis-gallinarum and all earlier objective synonyms in the scientific name of the agent of avian tuberculosis. Although Chester used the name “Mycobacterium avium (Kruse) Lehmann and Neumann” for this organism, subsequent authors have attributed the name M. avium 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. avium is ATCC 25291.