In 1890, Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburo discovered how to create an anti-toxin for diphtheria. Curt Schimmelbusch also invented the Schimmelbusch mask to allow for safer delivery of anesthetics.

Kitasato Shibasaburō died on 1931-06-13.

Kitasato Shibasaburō was born on 1853-01-29.

The bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943) discovered the bacterial agent responsible for the bubonic plague (aka Black Death) in 1894. In his honor the organism is named Yersinia pestis. The organism was also independently identified in Japan that same year by Kitasato Shibasaburo.