|
Shibasaburo Kitasato (北里 柴三郎) (1852-1931)
was a
Japanese
physician and
bacteriologist.
He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the infectious agent of
bubonic plague in
Hong Kong in
1894 , simultaneously with
Alexandre Yersin. Initially the
bacillus was called Pasteurella pestis it is now called
Yersinia pestis.
Born on
Kyushu. He was educated at Kumamoto Medical School and Imperial
University. He worked with
Robert Koch in
Germany (1885-91), and with
Emil von Behring he was the first to grow the
tetanus bacillus in pure
culture and developed (1890)
anti-toxins for
diphtheria and
anthrax. After returning to Japan in 1891 he founded an institute for
the study of infectious diseases. When this was incorporated into
Tokyo (ex-Imperial) University in 1914, he resigned and founded the
Kitasato Institute, which he headed for the rest of his life.
|
