He was interested in a disease called bacillary dysentery, which is a bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea, and back then, was actually killing a lot of people, because after all, no cure for bacterial infections had been invented.
Er war an der Bakterienruhr interessiert. Einer bakterielle Infektion, die starken Durchfall verursacht und damals vielen Menschen das Leben kostete, da es noch kein Heilmittel für bakterielle Infektionen gab.