Kiyoshi Shiga

Kiyoshi Shiga (志賀 潔, Shiga Kiyoshi, February 7, 1871 – January 25, 1957) was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist.

Kiyoshi Shiga
Kiyoshi Shiga in 1924
Born(1871-02-07)February 7, 1871
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
DiedJanuary 25, 1957(1957-01-25) (aged 85)
Sendai, Japan
NationalityJapan
OccupationMedical Researcher
Known forDiscovery of Shigella

Biography

Shiga was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, though his original family name was Satō. He graduated from the Medical School of Tokyo Imperial University in 1896 and went to work at the Institute for the Study of Infectious Diseases under Kitasato Shibasaburō. Shiga became famous for the discovery of Shigella dysenteriae, the organism that causes dysentery, in 1897, during a severe epidemic in which more than 90,000 cases were reported, with a mortality rate approaching 30%.[1][2] The bacterium Shigella was thus named after him, as well as the Shiga toxin, which is produced by the bacterium.

After the discovery of Shigella, Shiga worked with Paul Ehrlich in Germany from 1901 to 1905. After returning to Japan, he resumed the study of infectious diseases with Kitasato. He became a professor at Keio University in 1920.

From 1929 to 1931, Shiga was the president of Keijō Imperial University in Keijo (Seoul) and was senior medical advisor to the Japanese Governor-General of Korea. Shiga was a recipient of the Order of Culture in 1944. He was also awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class, on his death in 1957.

References
  1. Shiga K (1898), "Ueber den Erreger der Dysenterie in Japan", Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg, Vorläufige Mitteilung, 23: 599–600
  2. Trofa AF, Ueno-Olsen H, Oiwa R, Yoshikawa M (1999), "Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga: discoverer of the dysentery bacillus", Clinical Infectious Diseases, 29 (5): 1303–1306, doi:10.1086/313437, PMID 10524979

Bibliography
  • Csuros, Maria. Microbiological Examination of Water and Wastewater. CRC Press (1999). ISBN 1-56670-179-1
  • Kleinman. Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease (2008). ISBN 1-55009-364-9
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