Herald Rea Cox (1907–1986) was an American

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

. The bacterial family

Coxiellaceae The Coxiellaceae are a family in the order Legionellales. ''Coxiella burnetii'' is the best-described species in this group. The bacterium ''Rickettsiella melolonthae'' was initially assigned to the ''Coxiellaceae'', but is considered part of t ...

and the genus '' Coxiella'', which include the organism that causes

Q fever Q fever or query fever is a disease caused by infection with ''Coxiella burnetii'', a bacterium that affects humans and other animals. This organism is uncommon, but may be found in cattle, sheep, goats, and other domestic mammals, including ...

, are named after him.

Biography

Born in

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, he graduated from Indiana State Normal School, now

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

, in 1928 before obtaining his doctorate from the

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private university, private research university primarily based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded as the Johns Hopkins ...

. In the 1930s, Cox joined the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant se ...

as Principal Bacteriologist at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in

Hamilton, Montana Hamilton is a city that serves as the county seat of Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hamilton was founded by Copper Kings, copper king Marcus Daly in the la ...

. While there, he studied

rickettsia ''Rickettsia'' is a genus of nonmotile, gram-negative, nonspore-forming, highly pleomorphic bacteria that may occur in the forms of cocci (0.1 μm in diameter), bacilli (1–4 μm long), or threads (up to about 10 μm long). The genus was n ...

, a group of organisms that causes

Rocky Mountain spotted fever Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally Petechial rash, made up of small s ...

and

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

. In 1938, he discovered that rickettsia could be grown in fertile egg membranes, which led to the development of vaccines to combat Rocky Mountain spotted fever and vaccines for several strains of typhus. The family

and the genus Coxiella, which contain the organism that causes

, are named for Cox. In 1942, Cox became head of the Virus and Rickettsial Research Department at

Lederle Laboratories American Cyanamid Company was an American manufacturing conglomerate. It began as a fertilizer company and added many additional lines of business before merging with American Home Products in 1994. The combined company sold off most of its di ...

in New York. At that time, public health attention focused on finding a vaccine for

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

. Cox was one of many researchers competing to find a breakthrough, which is generally credited to

Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New ...

(1952). Although Cox's egg technique was in widespread use by 1943, it had not been successful for polio. In 1947,

John Franklin Enders John Franklin Enders (February 10, 1897 – September 8, 1985) was an American biomedical scientist and Nobel Laureate. Enders has been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines." Life and education Enders was born in West Hartford, Connecticut on Fe ...

and others demonstrated that monkey tissue provided a suitable medium to grow the virus in the lab. Salk employed the Enders method, incubating the virus using rhesus monkey kidneys and testicles. Cox eschewed the technique because of the danger monkey virus represented. In October, 1952, Cox reported that he had grown the Lansing strain of polio virus in fertile hens' eggs, and in 1961, he announced an oral polio vaccine. Meanwhile, human trials of

Albert Sabin Albert Bruce Sabin ( ; born Abram Saperstejn; August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) was a Polish-American medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine, which has played a key role in nearly Poliomyelitis eradication, eradica ...

's successful oral vaccine had begun in 1957, and it would be licensed for general use in 1961. Within Lederle Laboratories, Cox competed with co-worker

Hilary Koprowski Hilary Koprowski (5 December 191611 April 2013) was a Polish virologist and immunologist active in the United States who demonstrated the world's first effective live polio vaccine. He authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co ...

, as each had developed a successful polio vaccine. Cox retired from Lederle in 1972. He was later director of cancer research at

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. Th ...

(then known as Roswell Park Memorial Institute), where he concentrated on cancer immunology.

Honors

* 1940: Theobald Smith Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science (for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever vaccine) * 1942: Doctor of Science, University of Montana * 1946: Typhus Commission Medal * 1951: Ricketts Award * 1958: Distinguished Alumni Award, Indiana State University * 1961: President, American Society for Microbiology * 1971: Honorary Member, Society of American Bacteriologists, American Society for Microbiology

Archived papers

American Society for Microbiology Archives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, H.R. 1907 births 1986 deaths Indiana State University alumni American bacteriologists Polio