Yersin: bubonic plague in Hong Kong

What changed

Described bacilli recovered from plague buboes in Hong Kong, their cultivation and animal-inoculation observations supporting a causal role in bubonic plague.

Scientific scope

The record is Yersin’s exact 1894 Annales de l’Institut Pasteur paper. Kitasato’s separate report, priority disputes, later taxonomy, antiserum work and flea-transmission studies remain separate.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. The record is Yersin’s exact 1894 Annales de l’Institut Pasteur paper. Kitasato’s separate report, priority disputes, later taxonomy, antiserum work and flea-transmission studies remain separate.

Contributors

• Alexandre Yersin · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Wellcome record for Yersin’s Hong Kong plague paper
• Université Paris Cité scan of Yersin’s plague paper
• Bibel and Chen review of the Yersin–Kitasato controversy

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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