Yellow Fever and the Mosquito

What happened

Yellow fever terrified port cities and doomed early attempts to build the Panama Canal. In 1900 a U.S. Army board led by Major Walter Reed, testing the theory of the Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay, proved through human experiments that mosquitoes transmit the disease. Mosquito-control campaigns then swiftly cleared yellow fever from Havana and, later, the Panama Canal Zone.

Why it matters

Confirming the mosquito as the carrier of yellow fever saved countless lives and made possible the completion of the Panama Canal. It was a landmark in the new science of controlling disease by controlling its insect vectors.

Sources

• The Army Historical Foundation. Major Walter Reed and the Eradication of Yellow Fever · Reputable source