ABSTRACT
Verruga peruana (VP) is the eruptive phase of human bartonellosis (HB) or Carrion's disease, which follows an acute hematic phase known as Oroya Fever (OF). HB has been present in Peru since ancient times, as depicted in pre-Inca monoliths. In 1885 a medical student named Daniel A. Carrion decided to prove a common origin for OF and VP. He inoculated himself with the blood of verruga and twenty-one days later he developed OF and died. This experiment proved that OF and VP are two distinct clinical phases of the same illness.
