Moses Tran Clegg (September 1, 1876 – August 9, 1918) was an American

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

noted for his work in

Leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

. He is best known as the first scientist to segregate and propagate the

leprosy bacillus ''Mycobacterium leprae'' (also known as the leprosy bacillus or Hansen's bacillus) is one of the two species of bacteria that cause Hansen's disease (leprosy), a chronic but curable infectious disease that damages the peripheral nerves and tar ...

Early life

Clegg was born on September 1, 1876, at

Red Bluff, Arkansas Red Bluff is a former village in Jefferson County, Arkansas, Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. The area it once occupied is located in the northeast part of Barraque Township. History Founded on September 2, 1869, Red Bluff served as ...

, and educated at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. After a period of service in Company A, 1st Arkansas Infantry during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, he enlisted in the Hospital Corps, serving through the

Philippine Insurrection The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Career

Clegg was assistant bacteriologist in the Philippine Bureau of Science at

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

from 1902 to 1910, assistant director of the Leprosy Investigation Station in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

from 1910 to 1915, and bacteriologist at

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

from 1916 to 1917. At the time of his death, he was superintendent of

Queen's Hospital Queen's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Romford in the London Borough of Havering. It was built on the site of the former Oldchurch Park, a short distance south of the town centre. It was opened in 2006 and serves a population of about ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Early life

Career

See also

References

Further reading