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treponema pallidum

The cause of syphilis, this is a microscopic bacterial organism called a spirochete, a worm-like spiral-shaped organism that wiggles vigorously when viewed under a microscope. Treponema pallidum was discovered in 1905 by the german bacteriologist fritz schaudinn (1871-1906) who named it, putting together the greek trepo (i turn) and nema (thread) with the latin pallida (pale) to make a pale turning thread.