Christopher Collins was an internationally acclaimed expert on tuberculosis bacteriology and on the prevention of laboratory-acquired infections. He made significant contributions to the laboratory study of tuberculosis and, together with his colleagues Malcolm Yates and John Grange, developed a series of tests for distinguishing between different types of the bacillus causing this disease — tests that were subsequently advocated by the World Health Organisation.

For many years he was responsible for diagnostic tuberculosis bacteriology in London and the South East and made many studies of the distribution of the various types of the tubercle bacillus in the community. This work revealed that cases of human tuberculosis acquired from cattle still occur in the community decades after the completion of bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes.

In addition to his practical contribution to medical microbiology, notably in the fields of mycobacteria and laboratory safety, for which he produced about 50 scientific papers, he distinguished himself as an author and editor of many books and monographs and, for many years, was co-editor of the Journal of Applied Bacteriology. Three of his books have been published in more than one edition. The first of these, Microbiological Methods (1964), is now in its eighth edition. His interest in laboratory safety led to the publication of Laboratory-acquired Infections (1983); the fourth edition was in 1999. The third book was Organisation and Practice in Tuberculosis Bacteriology (1985) and with a second edition, renamed Tuberculosis Bacteriology — Organisation and Practice (1997). At the time of his death he had just finished a new book, provisionally entitled Filth and Fevers, an account of the revolution in public health practice in the 19th century.

As well as laboratory safety, he took a particular interest in clinical waste disposal, blood-borne infections and microbiological diseases of occupations. Such was his expertise that he was appointed to many national and international committees, notably the Working Party on Safety in Biotechnology of the European Federation of Biotechnology.

Christopher Herbert Collins was born in 1919 in Luton, Bedfordshire, and attended a local grammar school. Despite his academic ability, he did not go on to university, apparently because his family had insufficient funds. Instead he became a trainee sanitary inspector and also acted as a part-time laboratory assistant to the Medical Officer of Health of the Borough of Luton. Initially, his main duty was to culture throat swabs for the diphtheria bacillus. Later new offices and laboratories were built and he became a full-time laboratory assistant. He would often visit the London County Council laboratories to gain experience and expertise in a wide range of microbiological methods.

In 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and was sent to the RAF Institute of Pathology, a period that included a posting to a laboratory in Iceland. After the war he returned to the municipal laboratory at Luton and was appointed senior technician. At that time, there were plans for municipal laboratories to be taken over by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) and, as promotion in that organisation required one to be a Fellow of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology, he set about gaining this qualification; his dissertation was on methods for the culture of mycobacteria, which proved to be a turning point in his career. He obtained his fellowship in 1951 and, in the following year, started work in the PHLS laboratory in County Hall, London, where he was able to pursue his special interest in mycobacteria. In those days, the classification of mycobacteria other than the tubercle and leprosy bacilli was, to say the least, chaotic. Collins introduced some order and, as a result of his published contributions on this subject, was promoted to senior technical officer. In 1965 he qualified as a Member of the Institute of Biology, a qualification equal to a university degree, and subsequently he was elected a Fellow of the institute.

The tuberculosis laboratory at County Hall was among the first to be equipped with microbiological safety cabinets and, with characteristic energy and enthusiasm, Collins embarked on a study of such cabinets and laboratory safety in general. He became known in this field through several publications and this led to collaboration with the safety officer of the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down and appointment to the Special Programme on Safety in Microbiology of the World Health Organisation.

On his official retirement in 1985 he was awarded membership, soon followed by fellowship, of the Royal College of Pathologists — an honour rarely given to those who are not medically qualified. The following year he was awarded a Doctor of Science, and in 1972 he was appointed MBE. He was also appointed a research Fellow at King’s College Hospital and a senior visiting research Fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute, now part of Imperial College School of Medicine. He was made an honorary member of the European Biosafety Association (EBSA) in 2002 for his outstanding contribution to biosafety.

At the age of 80 he enrolled at the University of Kent at Canterbury to read for an MA, which was awarded in 2003 for a thesis entitled “Cholera and the Sanitary Revolution of 19th-century England”.

His first wife, Elizabeth Anne, died in 1966. Three years later he married Patricia Lyne, a microbiologist. He is survived by his wife and son, and by two sons from his first marriage.

Christopher Collins, MBE, microbiologist, was born on October 18, 1919. He died on October 19, 2009, aged 90