n most cases the first symptoms are arthritic joints, which can precede the malabsorption symptoms of Whipple's disease by many years. Commonly, the disease progresses to the small intestine

Whipple's Disease is not thought to be contagious but no one is really sure how the bacteriaTropheryma whipplei infects the person. No documentation exists of a person-to-person

Diagnosis of Whipple's disease is difficult, and is commonly suspected only if the patient presents with malabsorption symptoms. Then, a small-bowel biopsy can be made to locate the presence of the bacteria

There are several meanings of the word Whipple, so the answer would depend on which of those is being discussed. Whipple can be a surgical operation, or a disease in the digestive system, as well as being a crafting toy company.

The bacterium that causes Whipple's disease was only successfully cultured in 1997. Tropheryma whipplei belongs to the high G+C phylum of gram-positive bacteria, and its genome was sequenced in 2003.