Order of authorship in the original publication: Raoult, Birg, La Scola. Raoult and colleagues cultured the bacterium causing the systemic digestive tract infection Whipple's disease from a mitral valve of a patient with endocarditis due to the disease. This was the first time that the bacterium causing Whipple's disease was cultured since the Whipple first described the disease in 1907. Digital facsimile from nejm.org at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Order of authorship in the original publication: Raoult, Fenollar, Birg. Raoult and colleagues cultured the infectious agent of Whipple's disease from the stool of a patient with the disease. In the process the authors learned that this particular bacillus is resistant to glutaraldehyde, a disinfectant that was then used to decontaminate endoscopes used for colonoscopy and other procedures.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)