Whipple's disease was first described in 1907 by George Hoyt Whipple. Significant microbiological advances have since revolutionised our understanding of the disease, first with molecular biology and then with the successful isolation of the bacterium, Tropheryma whipplei, in culture [1,2]. This progression has shifted our perception of the disease from a rare condition caused by an unculturable bacterium to one associated with acute infections and widespread colonisation in both environmental and human contexts [3].
