Kitasato Shibasaburo (1853-1931) was educated at Kumamoto Medical School, Kyushu, and Tokyo Imperial University. From 1885-91 he studied with Koch in Berlin, growing the "tetanus bacillus (Kitasato)" in pure culture, CF: 332f. for 1889. These organisms are strictly anaerobic, spore-forming slender rods/bacilli and widely dispersed in soils. ("Clostridium tetani" and others). Kitasato was in 1890 a collaborator of Behring on working towards antitoxins for tetanus and diphtheria. Though proposed for the Nobel Prize, he was not selected. In 1891 he returned to Japan and founded an Institute for the Study of Infectious Diseases.
Last modified 12 December 2016