Yersin-Kitasato Controversy

There had been broad discussions whether Yersin alone or both Yersin and Kitasato had detected the agent of plague in the year 1894. David J. Bible and T. H. Chen summarized in the year 1976 the different reasons and facts that may have led to the decision for one or the other person. From our days’ view, there were a lot of political reasons that led contemporary scientist to decide for Yersin or Kitasato, since at that time the rising powers Germany and Japan started to come in competition with the old big powers France and England. Besides, of all these queries, both scientists – Yersin and Kitasato – did a great job always being endangered to become fatally infected themselves.