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William Crawford Gorgas (born Oct. 3, 1854, Mobile, Ala., U.S.—died July 3, 1920, London, Eng.) was a U.S. Army surgeon who contributed greatly to the building of the Panama Canal by introducing mosquito control to prevent yellow fever and malaria.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
In a French translation of his exposé on yellow fever (originally written in English), Gorgas emphasized abolishing international quarantine regulations with regard to yellow fever, since mosquitoes were known to transmit this disease among people.
Dec 11, 2019 · Dr. William Gorgas with a hospital in Panama in the background. Gorgas eradicated yellow fever there in two years after implementing practical solutions like installing home mosquito nets and removing standing water.
He is best known for his work in Florida, Havana and at the Panama Canal in abating the transmission of yellow fever and malaria by controlling the mosquitoes that carry these diseases, for which he used the discoverments made by the cuban doctor Carlos J. Finlay.
Feb 14, 2024 · Gorgas rejected the theory that mosquitoes transmitted yellow fever until 1900, when fellow Army physician Maj. Walter Reed proved that the female Stegomyia (now known as the Aedes) mosquito spread the disease. Gorgas soon implemented efforts to destroy mosquito breeding sites, and by September 1901 these procedures had eliminated yellow fever ...
Yellow fever had been a presence in Gorgas' life from early adulthood, when he had acquired immunity through a mild case of the disease. 2 In 1898, soon after the end of the Spanish-American War, Gorgas was detailed to Havana, where yellow fever had been endemic for centuries.
May 23, 2018 · 1854-1920. American physician who made major contributions to public health reform, urban and military sanitation, and the control of yellow fever. As chief of sanitation in Havana, Cuba, Gorgas worked with Dr. Carlos Juan Finlay, Dr. Walter Reed, and others to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes.
