Chlamydia Chlamydia is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, hence the name; Chlamydia The word chlamys is Greek for "cloak draped around the shoulder.” This describes how the intracytoplasmic inclusions caused by the bacterium are "draped" around the infected cell's nucleus. Scientists discovered the organism in 1907, although it probably has been infecting people for hundreds of years. Because the symptoms of the disease resemble other pathologies, chlamydia was not recognized as a sexually transmitted disease until recently. Isolation from embryonated eggs in 1957 and from cell culture in 1963 confirmed its existence as a bacterium. (Madigan) However, since the organism is a