Georges Girard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Georges Girard (February 4, 1888 - February 20, 1985) was a French bacteriologist who was born in Isigny-sur-Mer. In 1911 he received his Bachelor's degree, and in 1914 his medical doctorate. From 1917 until 1940 Girard was associated with his work in Madagascar at the Pasteur Institute in Tananarive, and at the laboratory of bacteriology at the Hospital of Diego-Suarez.
During his tenure in Madagascar, Girard conducted studies of typhoid, tuberculosis, leprosy and particularly bubonic plague. Since 1898 there had been sporadic outbreaks of the plague in the country, and none of the previously developed vaccines were strong or durable enough to handle the disease. In the early 1930s, Girard and his assistant Jean-Marie Robic developed an anti-plague vaccine known as the EV strain. The EV strain had excellent results against the plague, and inoculation was carried out by Colonial Army medical officers and auxiliary Malagasy physicians. For decades afterwards this strain has been used worldwide to combat bubonic plague.
In 1940 Girard returned to the Pasteur Institute in Paris and performed research of pasteurellosis, tularaemia and the bacillus Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.
