Haemophilus influenzae (formerly called Pfeiffer's bacillus or Bacillus influenzae) is a Gram-negative, coccobacillary, facultatively anaerobic capnophilic pathogenic bacterium of the family Pasteurellaceae. H. influenzae was first described in 1892 by Richard Pfeiffer during an influenza pandemic, who incorrectly described H. influenzae as the causative microbe, which retains "influenza" in its name. The bacterium was argued by some to be the cause of influenza as bacterial influenza. H. influenzae is responsible for a wide range of localized and invasive infections, but influenza is caused by viruses. This species was the first free-living organism to have its entire genome sequenced. [From Wikipedia]
