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Which bacterium causes anthrax?
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Robert Koch
Best known for demonstrating that specific microorganisms cause specific diseases, German bacteriologist and physician helped to confirm the germ theory of disease.
The bacterium that causes anthrax is Bacillus anthracis.1
German bacteriologist Robert Koch played a pivotal role in understanding this disease. While earlier researchers had observed rod-shaped organisms in the blood of infected animals, Koch conducted groundbreaking laboratory experiments that demonstrated the complete life cycle of the bacterium. He discovered that the bacteria could form dormant, highly resistant spores, which explained how the disease could reappear in pastures long after infected animals had been removed. In 1876, Koch successfully isolated the organism in pure culture, providing the first convincing proof of a specific microorganism's causal relationship to a specific disease.21