Koch and Cholera Bacillus

Robert Koch was born at Clausthal, in Germany, in 1843 and in 1866 he got a degree in medicine.

In 1883 Koch was send in Egypt as the leader of the German Cholera Commission. There he discovered the vibrio that causes cholera (Vibrio cholerae asiaticae) and brought back pure cultures of it to Germany. He also studied cholera in India.

In 1884 he isolated cholera’s vibrio.

He analysed the infection modalities, established the rules to control the cholera’s epidemics and formed the basis of the methods of control which are still used today.

For his work on cholera a price of 100,000 Marks was awarded to him.

In 1905 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine and died on May of 1910 in Baden Baden.

Andrea Antico