1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 2: Way back in twenty fourteen, we did an episode on 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 2: Walter Reed, which we reran as a Saturday Classic maybe 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 2: three ish years ago. Walter Reed was a US Army 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 2: physician who was most known for his work on illnesses 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 2: that were really affecting soldiers in the Caribbean, especially yellow fever. 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: In that episode, we talked about how Reid's work was 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 2: really based on that of a Cuban doctor named Carlos 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 2: Wan Finlay. I'm going to take a pronunciation moment here, 12 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 2: because I think a lot of people in English speaking 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 2: countries pronounced that name, which is spelled fi n Lay, 14 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 2: as Finley. But everything I found from an institute named 15 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: after him, and some things from Spanish speakers in Cuba 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 2: pronounced it more like Finlay, So that's what we are 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,199 Speaker 2: going with. So Finlay had already figured out a lot 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 2: of what Reid and his team confirmed, and then we're 19 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 2: pretty much given credit for I've always wanted to talk 20 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 2: more about Finlay, and now we are finally Juan Carlos 21 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 2: Finlay was born on December third, eighteen thirty three. He 22 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 2: was born in Camaguay in central Cuba, which was at 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 2: the time known as Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe. 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 2: He went by Carlos, and later on in his life 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 2: started using j as his middle initial to differentiate from 26 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 2: his son, Carlos Eduardo Finlay, who became an accomplished doctor 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 2: and professor of medicine in his own right. 28 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: Carlos's parents were both immigrants to Cuba. His mother, Elizabeth 29 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: Debard known as Eliza, was a frenchwoman from Trinidad. His father, 30 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: Edward Finlay, was from Scotland. In the words of a 31 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: biographic sketch by Cuban physician and yellow fever specialist, doctor 32 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: Juan Guitaris, which was published in nineteen twelve, quote like 33 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: to one other great Antillion, Alexander Hamilton, he was born 34 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: of two great races, the Scotch and the French, a 35 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: quote I included in this episode because it made me 36 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: laugh so hard when I read it for the first time. 37 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: Guteras also had this to say about Finley's personality and 38 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: what his parents' nationalities had to do with it quote 39 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: from the Scotch he inherited the intensity and the ardor 40 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: in the pursuit of an objective, together with the logic discipline, 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: and the inclination to theorize upon and insistently to discuss 42 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: abstruse subjects without losing, however, the golden thread of their 43 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: practical application. From the French, he received his characteristic amiability 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: and courtesy, together with a lively imagination and the love 45 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: of glory, which, though not apparent on the surface, must 46 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: have spurred the scotchman in his noble ambition. I feel 47 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: like this is attributing a lot of stuff to his 48 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: behavior that really we have no scientific basis for. But 49 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: according to Gutanez, that was tempered by quote the most 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: exquisite modesty, a virtue which I am pleased to think 51 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: was fostered in the creole atmosphere of the time, together 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: with a great love for the land of his birth. 53 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I really feel like that quote is a combination 54 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 2: of a description of his personality and an example of 55 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 2: how much people thought a national origin could affect. 56 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: A person's character. 57 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 2: So at first, when Carlos was a child, he was 58 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: educated at home, and when he was eleven, his parents 59 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 2: sent him to a school in France. His father was 60 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 2: a doctor and wanted him to have access to a 61 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: prestigious European education, but that education wound up having a 62 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 2: lot of interruptions. First, Carlos got sick. Most accounts described 63 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 2: this as Korea, possibly Sydenham Korea, which is a movement 64 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 2: disorder that can develop in children after they've had an 65 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 2: illness like strep throat or scarlet fever. This affected his speech, 66 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 2: and after Carlos got home, his father developed a regimen 67 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 2: to try to help him recover, and it did help. 68 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 2: For the rest of his life, Carlos spoke slowly and 69 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 2: his speech could sound slurred, which sometimes affected people's perceptions 70 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 2: of his intelligence. Gueteris also suggested that this speech disorder 71 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 2: came from Carlos's brain and might have been connected to 72 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 2: his seeming perpetually absent minded. Carlos went back to France 73 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 2: when he was fifteen, but before long he had to 74 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 2: leave again due to the Revolution of eighteen forty eight, 75 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 2: which overthrew France's constitutional monarchy. Carlos went to London for 76 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 2: a while and then spent a year's stay being in 77 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 2: Germany before going back to France and enrolling in college 78 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 2: in Rouen. Then in eighteen fifty one, he faced yet 79 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 2: another interruption when he contracted typhoid fever and had to 80 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 2: once again go back home to Cuba to recover. By 81 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 2: this point, Finlay was fluent in Spanish, English, German, and French, 82 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 2: and he knew enough classical Latin and Greek to translate 83 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 2: works in those languages into Spanish for fun. His coursework 84 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 2: in Europe was equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts, and 85 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 2: he had reached a point in his education that, once 86 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 2: he recovered, the next step would be medical school. But 87 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: the medical school at the University of Havana would not 88 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 2: accept these credentials, so Finlay went to Philadelphia to attend 89 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 2: Jefferson Medical College, earning his medical degree on March tenth, 90 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 2: eighteen fifty five. His professors and mentors encouraged him to 91 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 2: go to New York and work with the Spanish speaking 92 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 2: immigrant community there, but he wanted to go back to Cuba. 93 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 2: He did, and Spanish authorities validated his medical degree and 94 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 2: approved him to practice medicine there in eighteen fifty seven. 95 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 2: Finlay didn't establish a permanent practice in Cuba right away. 96 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 2: He went back to France for a while to continue 97 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: his education in neurology and ophthalmology. He and his father 98 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 2: also went to Peru together and they practiced medicine there. 99 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 2: On October sixteenth, eighteen sixty five, Carlos married a woman 100 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 2: named Adella, who was from Trinidad. They would go on 101 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 2: to have three children together, Carlos Eduardo in eighteen sixty eight, 102 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 2: Jorge Enrique in eighteen seventy and Jose Maria Francisco in 103 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy six. 104 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty nine, the family went to Trinidad to 105 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: visit Adella's family. According to Keetera's biographical sketch, in eighteen 106 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 1: seventy five, Carlos also went to New York Quote in 107 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: search of professional advice for Missus Finlay, which suggests that 108 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: she was having a medical issue and that he wanted 109 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: to consult a specialist, but Gauteris doesn't suggest what that 110 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: issue may have been. At the beginning of his medical career, 111 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: including while he was practicing outside of Cuba, Finlay focused 112 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: on general medicine along with ophthalmology and eye surgery, but 113 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: by the eighteen sixties he was focusing more on diseases 114 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: that were public health issues in Cuba, including yellow fever, 115 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: which is a viral hemorrhagic fever. Most people who contract 116 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: yellow fever have symptoms like fever, chills, body aches, nausea, vomiting, 117 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: and weakness, and they recover within three or four days. 118 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: But about fifteen percent of people who contract yellow fever 119 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: develop a serious illness that has a much higher fever 120 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: and organ damage jaundice, hemorrhaging, and black vomit caused by 121 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: that hemorrhaging and organ destruction. Still today, as many as 122 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: fifty percent of people who defy this more serious version 123 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: of the disease die within seven to ten days. Today, 124 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: we know that yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes, especially 125 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: Ades agypdi, which thrives in warm climates and is native 126 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: to Africa. These mosquitoes were introduced to the Caribbean and 127 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: the Americas through the Transatlantic slave trade, and the first 128 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: reports of yellow fever in the Americas were in the 129 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: seventeenth century. The disease soon became endemic in tropical areas 130 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: that had a large enough population for sustained transmission. It 131 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: also caused huge, devastating outbreaks in places outside the tropics, 132 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 1: as mosquitoes and sick passengers arrived aboard ships. In the 133 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: United States, there were frequent outbreaks in the South, but 134 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: they could happen in the North as well. For example, 135 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: about ten percent of the people living in Philadelphia died 136 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: in the yellow fever outbreak in seventeen ninety three. 137 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 2: Yellow fever also became a particular problem for Spanish colonial 138 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 2: authorities and the Spanish military in Cuba. Spain had claimed 139 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 2: Cuba as its territory in fourteen ninety two and started 140 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,559 Speaker 2: establishing settlements there in the fifteen hundreds. Cuba's indigenous population 141 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 2: included multiple Ariwuacans speaking peoples, and they faced displacement, introduced diseases, violence, 142 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 2: and genocide. Indigenous people and enslaved Africans rose up against 143 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 2: the Spanish in Cuba for decades, and in eighteen sixty 144 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 2: eight an anti colonial uprising began that came to be 145 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 2: known as the Ten Years War, and this war was 146 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 2: interconnected with the movement to abolished slavery. 147 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: Large numbers of Spanish soldiers were sent to Cuba to 148 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: put down this uprising, and they were vulnerable not just 149 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: to yellow fever, but to a range of other tropical diseases. 150 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: That their immune systems had no experience with. They were 151 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: also housed in close quarters, making it easy for infected 152 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: mosquitoes to bite multiple people. This contributed to the spread 153 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: of other diseases, including malaria, which is also spread by mosquitoes, 154 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: and typhus, which is spread by fleas and lace. 155 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,359 Speaker 2: Serious illnesses became an enormous problem for the Spanish military, 156 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 2: with death rates that were much much higher among soldiers 157 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 2: than they were among the civilian Cuban population. That continued 158 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 2: to be true after the Ten Years were ended in 159 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,719 Speaker 2: eighteen seventy eight, including during the Cuban War of Independence 160 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 2: that started in eighteen ninety five. More than ninety percent 161 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 2: of the deaths among Spanish troops between eighteen ninety five 162 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 2: and eighteen ninety eight were due to disease, not combat injuries, 163 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 2: and more than a third of those deaths were from 164 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 2: yellow fever. Maximo Gomezi Bayez, leader of the Cuban Liberation 165 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 2: Army during the Ten Years War and the Cuban War 166 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:06,679 Speaker 2: of Independence, described June, July and August as his best generals. 167 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 2: Those were the months when many of these diseases peaked 168 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 2: and the months when mosquitoes were most active. 169 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: But at the time they didn't know that mosquitoes were 170 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: spreading the illness. The person who figured out the mosquito 171 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: part was Carlos Swan Finlay. We will talk about that 172 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. The focus in today's episode is 173 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:40,959 Speaker 1: yellow fever. But in addition to his postgraduate training in ophthalmology, 174 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: Carlos Wan Finlay also studied and wrote on a range 175 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: of other illnesses that were affecting people in Cuba. One 176 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: was cholera. In eighteen sixty seven, he suggested that the 177 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: source of a cholera outbreak was sewage contamination of a 178 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: water supply. Over the course of his work, he also 179 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: published papers on touberculosis, tetanus, leprosy, nutritional diseases like barry berry, 180 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: and parasitic diseases like trichinosis and philariasis. He was writing 181 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: about yellow fever by eighteen sixty five. Finlay developed a 182 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 1: thorough knowledge of the late nineteenth centuries medical understanding of 183 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: yellow fever. He also studied the air in Havana, measuring 184 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: its alkalinity and cross referencing that with the seasons, the climate, 185 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and public health. He noticed that the air seemed to 186 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,679 Speaker 1: be more alkaline in times when yellow fever outbreaks peaked, 187 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: and he thought there might be some kind of connection there. 188 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy nine, after the end of the Ten Years' War, 189 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: the United States sent a commission of doctors to Cuba 190 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: to study yellow fever in the US. Interest in the 191 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: disease was primarily connected to those unpredictable and horrifying outbreaks 192 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,319 Speaker 1: that struck American cities. A huge outbreak had struck more 193 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: than one hundred cities and towns in the southern US 194 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: the year before. Because of his reputation and his previous 195 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: work on yellow fever, Finlay was appointed to work with 196 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: the US commission. They did not pinpoint the cause of 197 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: yellow fever or correctly identify how it was spread, but 198 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: this work did connect Finlay to US Army physician and 199 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:26,560 Speaker 1: bacteriologist George Miller Sternberg, the commission's microscopist. Finlay and Sternberg 200 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: became friends, and Sternberg shared his collection of slides containing 201 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: blood and tissue samples from yellow fever patients with Finlay. 202 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 2: The commission's report concluded that the infectious agent that caused 203 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 2: yellow fever had to be replicating somewhere outside of human 204 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 2: bodies before it infected them. I could not get my 205 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 2: hands on this actual report, but that is how it 206 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 2: was characterized. 207 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: In other writing about it. 208 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 2: Finlay had also learned about a type of corn rust 209 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 2: that had to incubate in barberry bushes before it could 210 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 2: infect the corn. That combined with his microscopic study of 211 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 2: Sternberg's blood and tissue samples and what the blood cells 212 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 2: and vessels looked like in those samples, he started to 213 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 2: wonder if yellow fever could be introduced into the body 214 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 2: through the bite of an insect. By eighteen eighty one, 215 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 2: Finley was confident that yellow fever was being spread by mosquitoes, 216 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 2: specifically the females of the species known as ads agypdi. Today, 217 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 2: it has had multiple other scientific names at various points 218 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 2: in the past, so if you do additional reading, you 219 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 2: may see that species name differently. But on February eighteenth 220 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 2: of eighteen eighty one, he presented at the International Sanitary 221 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 2: Conference in Washington, d C. And he said that he 222 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 2: believed an intermediate agent played a role in yellow fever transmission. 223 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 2: He said that he was not yet ready to say 224 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 2: what that intermediate agent was, but that he was working 225 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 2: on a paper about it. This presentation was not received 226 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 2: very well. He had been selected to attend this conference 227 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 2: without a lot of notice, so he hadn't had time 228 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 2: to really do a lot of experiments to verify what 229 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 2: he had concluded based on his observations so far. Even 230 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 2: though he was sure that the mosquito was the vector 231 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 2: in question, he did not want to make that announcement 232 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 2: without evidence to support it. Nobody from the audience asked 233 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 2: him many questions about his presentation, but apparently somebody did 234 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 2: tell him that he needed to follow Robert Coke's postulates, 235 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 2: including isolating the organism in question, culturing it, and confirming 236 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 2: that it caused disease in a healthy subject. 237 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: This would have been impossible at the time. Coke's postulates 238 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: were developed through study of bacterial illnesses like anthrax and tuberculosis, 239 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: which could be filtered, cultured, and observed through a microscope. 240 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: Yellow fever is caused by a virus, and viruses could 241 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: not be filtered, cultured, or seen using the technologies that 242 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: were in existence at the time. People did not yet 243 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: know that viruses existed. 244 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 2: On August fourteenth, eighteen eighty one, Finlay delivered a paper 245 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 2: titled the mosquito hypothetically considered as the transmitting agent of 246 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 2: yellow fever before the Havanah Academy of Sciences. In it, 247 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 2: he referenced Sterberg's tissue samples quote showing what to me 248 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 2: appeared to be a most striking feature, namely that the 249 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: red blood globules are discharged unbroken in the hemorrhages of 250 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 2: yellow fever. This fact, taken in connection with the circumstance 251 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 2: that those hemorrhages are often unattended with any perceptible break 252 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 2: in the blood vessels, while on the other hand, they 253 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 2: constitute a most essential clinical symptom of the disease, led 254 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 2: me to infer that the principal lesion of yellow fever 255 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 2: should be sought for or in the vascular endothelium. The 256 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 2: disease is transmissible, It attacks but once the same person, 257 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 2: and always presents in its phenomena a regular order comparable 258 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 2: with that observed in the eruptive fevers, all of which 259 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 2: circumstances suggested to my mind the hypothesis that yellow fever 260 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 2: should be considered as a sort of eruptive fever, in 261 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 2: which the seat of the eruption is the vascular endothelium. 262 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 2: He walked through what was needed for yellow fever to 263 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:32,640 Speaker 2: be transmitted. 264 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: Quote. One the existence of a yellow fever patient into 265 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: whose capillaries the mosquito is able to drive its sting 266 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: and to impregnate it with the virulent particles at an 267 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: appropriate stage of the disease. Two, That the life of 268 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 1: the mosquito be spared after its bite upon the patient 269 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: until it has a chance of biting the person in 270 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: whom the disease is to be reproduced. Three the coincidence 271 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: that some of the person whom the same mosquito happens 272 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: to bite thereafter shall be susceptible of contracting the disease. 273 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 2: He also explained the mosquito's physiology and behavior and how 274 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 2: they facilitated the spread of yellow fever. He described the 275 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 2: experiments that he had conducted in which he allowed a 276 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,879 Speaker 2: mosquito to bite a yellow fever patient and then later 277 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 2: bite someone who had never had yellow fever. This seemed 278 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 2: to lead to mild cases of yellow fever, and several 279 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 2: of his test subjects were diagnosed with quote abortive yellow fever, 280 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 2: but most of his test subjects didn't develop any kind 281 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 2: of symptoms quote barring my first three inoculated men. No 282 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 2: other case of confirmed or abortive yellow fever has occurred 283 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 2: among the twenty non immunes whom I have had under observation. 284 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: He also very clearly understood that his conclusions would be controversial, 285 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: wrote quote, I understand but too well, that nothing less 286 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: than an absolutely in controvertible demonstration will be required before 287 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: the generality of my colleagues accept a theory so entirely 288 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 1: at variance with the ideas which have until now prevailed 289 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,640 Speaker 1: about yellow fever. The prevailing idea about yellow fever at 290 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: this point was that it was spread through fomites, that is, 291 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: inanimate objects or materials that could carry infectious agents. And 292 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: when it came to yellow fever, especially severe hemorrhagic cases 293 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: of yellow fever, this idea made so much sense. Since 294 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: yellow fever is a hemorrhagic disease. Patients bled and they vomited, 295 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: their linens, the medical equipment and the rooms where they 296 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: were being treated became soiled, and the nature of that 297 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 1: contamination was just viscerally horrifying. So a big part of 298 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: attempts to control the spread of yellow fever was relentless 299 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: aggressive cleaning and disinfection of those spaces. So Finley's hypothesis 300 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,719 Speaker 1: about mosquito wasn't just going against the prevailing medical knowledge 301 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 1: about yellow fever. If he was correct, it also meant 302 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: that the one thing people felt like they could do 303 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 1: to control yellow fever was wrong, and all the time 304 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: and money and effort that had been spent on disinfecting 305 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: linens and scrubbing hospital walls and floors had been essentially useless. 306 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty one, there was also only one other 307 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: disease that had been identified as being spread by insects, 308 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: a parasitic infection called phileriasis, although the transmission of that 309 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: was not fully understood until nineteen oh one. People just 310 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 1: did not think of insect born diseases as a real possibility. 311 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 2: So Finley's conclusions were not just dismissed, they were ridiculed. 312 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 2: People started calling him the Mosquito man. Other researchers in 313 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:56,360 Speaker 2: Cuba excluded him from their work. That included Juan Santos Fernandez, 314 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 2: who established and funded a Histobacteriological life Laboratory and Institute 315 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 2: of Rabies Vaccination in eighteen eighty five. In addition to 316 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 2: dismissing Finlay's work, Santos Fernandez hired Diego Tamayo, who was 317 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,439 Speaker 2: another vocal critic of Finlay's, to head up that institute's 318 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 2: yellow fever research. This dismissal and derision continued after Finlay 319 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 2: did more research and published yellow Fever its Transmission by 320 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 2: Means of the Culex Mosquito in the American Journal of 321 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 2: the Medical Sciences in eighteen eighty six. This was obviously 322 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 2: both personally and professionally crushing. It shook Finley's faith in 323 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:43,199 Speaker 2: the broader scientific and medical community. It was true that 324 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 2: his conclusions had come from his observations and limited experiments 325 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 2: on volunteers, not through rigorous, controlled studies or following Cooke's postulates, 326 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 2: but he was also confident that his conclusions were correct 327 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 2: and that they were worth examining further. 328 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,399 Speaker 1: Finlay's wife was a big source of support. Another was 329 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: Claudio Delgado, a doctor from Spain who was Finlay's friend 330 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: and colleague and continued to work with him through all 331 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: of this. 332 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 2: They lobbied for the establishment of another bacteriological research facility 333 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 2: dedicated specifically to finding the cause of yellow fever. Again, 334 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 2: viruses still had not been discovered yet, which is why 335 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 2: their focus was still on bacteria. 336 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: Their efforts to establish a new research center were unsuccessful, 337 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: but Finley continued to gather supporting evidence for his hypothesis 338 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: through one hundred and two experiments on human volunteers, most 339 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: of them were new arrivals to Cuba, including soldiers and 340 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,959 Speaker 1: Catholic clergy. He had the cooperation of Jesuit and Carmelite 341 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: fathers working in Cuba, and of Captain General Ramon Blanco, 342 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 1: who was a brigadier general and colonial administrator. A lot 343 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: of writing about this research, including the way we described 344 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: it in our episode on read Misses something really important. 345 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: Finlay is characterized as not understanding that it takes roughly 346 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: two weeks for the yellow fever virus to replicate in 347 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: a mosquito's body before it can cause serious illness, and 348 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: that's why most of his experiments did not result in 349 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: patients who had full blown yellow fever. This is presented 350 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 1: as a reason why people were not taking him seriously. 351 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: He was waiting only long enough for the mosquito to 352 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: digest the infected blood it had consumed, then to be 353 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,719 Speaker 1: hungry again. This only took about four days, so his 354 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: experimental subjects typically did not get very sick. If they 355 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: showed any symptoms at all, but he was not trying 356 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: to give people full blown yellow fever. 357 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 2: He was using these mosquito bites as an inoculation, much 358 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 2: like intentionally exposing someone to cowpox, which is a mild disease, 359 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 2: to make them immune smellpox, and. 360 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 1: The subjects did seem to have resistance to yellow fever 361 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,640 Speaker 1: after being bitten. In eighteen ninety one, Finlay published Inoculations 362 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: for Yellow Fever by Means of Contaminated Mosquitoes in the 363 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: American Journal of the Medical Sciences. In this paper, he 364 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: rebutted some of the criticism of his earlier work, and 365 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: he also presented the results of a study of sixty 366 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: seven volunteers who were monitored for three or more years 367 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: after being bitten by a mosquito that was infected with 368 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: yellow fever. During that three year period, they lived in 369 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: parts of central Havana where there were frequent yellow fever outbreaks. 370 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 2: This observation was still ongoing, so fifteen of them hadn't 371 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,440 Speaker 2: gotten to that three year mark yet, but they also 372 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 2: had not had any indication of contracting yellow fever. Twelve 373 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: had developed a fever within twenty five days of being 374 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 2: bitten by the mosquito, and they either had or had 375 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 2: not had albumen in their urine, which is a sign 376 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 2: of yellow Twelve of them had no symptoms at all 377 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 2: after being bitten, and also no other yellow fever symptoms 378 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 2: in the three years since then. Twenty four of them 379 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,880 Speaker 2: had no symptoms after being bitten and then had a 380 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,199 Speaker 2: mild fever sometime in the three years afterward, but no 381 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,199 Speaker 2: other sign of yellow fever beyond that. Three had no 382 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 2: symptoms after being bitten and then later got yellow fever 383 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,719 Speaker 2: but recovered, and then one had no symptoms after being bitten, 384 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 2: but then later on got yellow fever and died. Outsiders 385 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 2: who came to Cuba were described as acclimated once they 386 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 2: no longer seemed susceptible to the tropical diseases that were 387 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 2: endemic there. Usually that happened after repeated illnesses, at least 388 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 2: some of them serious. By Findley's calculations, ninety two point 389 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 2: two percent of these test subjects were acclimated to yellow 390 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 2: fever by being bitten by a mosquito in this experiment, 391 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 2: having at most very much symptoms that acclamation was the goal, 392 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 2: not a full blown case of a potentially deadly disease. 393 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: We'll talk about. 394 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 2: How Walter Reid wound up being given a lot of 395 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 2: the credit for the discovery that mosquito spread yellow fever. 396 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 2: After a sponsor break in eighteen ninety three, Carlos Juan 397 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 2: Finlay and Claudio Delgado started collaborating with some of the 398 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 2: researchers from Juan Santos Fernandez's institute. 399 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: At that point, Diego Tomayo. 400 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 2: Had resigned, and while Santos Fernandez was not a believer 401 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 2: in Finlay's ideas, there were less objections to working with him. 402 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 2: That continued until eighteen ninety five. With the start of 403 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 2: the Cuban War of Independence. Medical and scientific research really 404 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 2: struggled during the war. In addition to the typical risks 405 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: and hardships of war, a lot of Cuban doctors and 406 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 2: researchers started leaving for the United States. 407 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,959 Speaker 1: The US became directly involved in this war between Cuba 408 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: and Spain in eighteen ninety eight, after Congress issued resolutions 409 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: supporting Cuban independence and demanded a withdrawal of Spanish troops, 410 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,959 Speaker 1: Spain declared war on the US, which then declared war 411 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: on Spain, and from the US point of view, this 412 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 1: part of it is known as the Spanish American War. 413 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: Finlay was in Tampa, Florida, when the US declared war 414 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: on Spain, and he traveled to Washington, d c. To 415 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,680 Speaker 1: volunteer his service as a surgeon. He was sent back 416 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 1: to Cuba aboard a hospital ship. He was sixty four 417 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:46,360 Speaker 1: at this point. 418 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 2: The Spanish American War ended with a treaty signed in 419 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 2: Paris on December tenth, eighteen ninety eight. Under this treaty, 420 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 2: Spain seated the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico to 421 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 2: the United States, and the US purchased the Philippines from 422 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:06,960 Speaker 2: Spain for twenty million dollars. This treaty also guaranteed Cuba's independence, 423 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 2: with the United States temporarily occupying Cuba and establishing a 424 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 2: military government. The US occupation lasted from the end of 425 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 2: the war until Cuba became formally independent in nineteen oh two. 426 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 2: George Miller Sternberg, the microscopist who had become Finlay's friend 427 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 2: and colleague back in eighteen seventy nine, was now the 428 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 2: surgeon General of the Army, and the US Army faced 429 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 2: the exact same issues with yellow fever and other tropical 430 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 2: diseases as the Spanish army had. US soldiers arrived in 431 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 2: Cuba and quickly got sick with one disease after another, 432 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 2: with diseases becoming a much bigger issue for soldiers than combat. 433 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 2: The same was true on the other islands that the 434 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,120 Speaker 2: US had acquired from Spain and was now occupying, so 435 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 2: there was a big focus on finding out how to 436 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 2: prevent and treat yellow fever and other tropical diseases. By 437 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 2: this point there was a little less resistance to the 438 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 2: idea that a disease could be spread through these kinds 439 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 2: of fights. Tics, which are arachnids, were identified as the 440 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 2: vector and Texas cattle fever in eighteen ninety. Mosquitoes were 441 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 2: identified as transmitting malaria in eighteen ninety seven, so when 442 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 2: the US Army Yellow Fever Board visited Cuba in nineteen hundred, 443 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 2: mosquitoes did not seem quite as far fetched as a 444 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 2: vector of the disease. This was not the first commission 445 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 2: the United States sent to Cuba for this kind of research. 446 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 2: We talked about the one in eighteen seventy nine, and 447 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 2: then there had been other ones in between, But this 448 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 2: is the one that Army physician Walter Reed was part 449 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 2: of and it's so associated with him that sometimes it 450 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 2: is called the Reed Commission. 451 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: Reed and his team eventually visited Finlay. They used mosquito 452 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: eggs that he had collected, and did experiments that were 453 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: very similar to his own, putting a mosquito in a 454 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: test tube and then putting the mouth of that tube 455 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: against the skin of someone who had yellow fever. Once 456 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: the mosquito fed on that person, they would wait until 457 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: it had digested its meal and then have it bite 458 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: someone else. I will confess that this all puts a 459 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: cartoon in my head, the idea of waiting for a 460 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: mosquito to digest things like did you enjoy your soup? Sir? 461 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: A member of this commission named James Carroll participated in 462 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: one of these experiments, contracted yellow fever and recovered another. 463 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: Jesse Lazier, was apparently bitten by a mosquito in the lab, 464 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: not part of this controlled experiment, just a mosquito that 465 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 1: was flying around in a building that also housed yellow 466 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: fever patients. He contracted yellow fever and unfortunately died. 467 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 2: Based on the Commission's research in Cuba, Read announced that 468 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 2: mosquitos had been conclusively determined to be the vector for 469 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 2: yellow fever on October twenty third, nineteen hundred. Reid's commission 470 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 2: is sometimes also credited with figuring out the amount of 471 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 2: time required for a mosquito to be able to infect 472 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 2: someone with a serious case of yellow fever, called the 473 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 2: extrinsic incubation period, That, however, was discovered by Henry Rose 474 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 2: Carter in experiments carried out in Mississippi in eighteen ninety eight. 475 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 2: Carter did not publish this work until nineteen hundred, though, 476 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 2: and one of the sources used in this episode also 477 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 2: said that Finlay already understood this part of it as well. 478 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 2: When Reid announced and wrote about this work, he made 479 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 2: some references to Finlay, including at one point saying, quote, 480 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 2: it was Finley's theory, and he deserves much for having 481 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 2: suggested it. William Crawford Gorgos, who would later become surgeon 482 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 2: General of the US Army and was in charge of 483 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 2: sanitation during the building of the Panama Canal, called Finley's 484 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 2: reasoning behind identifying the mosquito as the quote best piece 485 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 2: of logical reasoning that can be found in medicine anywhere, 486 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 2: and also described the US as owing a great debt 487 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 2: to Finlay, but Finlay really didn't get much formal recognition 488 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 2: in the US. There was a much bigger focus on 489 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 2: Walter Reed. There was also a big focus on how 490 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 2: this discovery was connected to the military and military readiness. 491 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 2: In nineteen hundred, US Army General Leonard Wood, who was 492 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 2: a physician and military governor of Cuba, said, quote, the 493 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 2: confirmation of the doctrine of doctor Finlay is the biggest 494 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 2: step that has been given in medical science after the 495 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 2: discovery of Jenner's vaccine, and this single fact is enough 496 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:46,920 Speaker 2: to justify the war against Spain. That recognition of Finlay 497 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 2: did not carry throughout the Army. At the Pan American 498 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 2: Medical Congress in February of nineteen oh one, the American 499 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 2: Army Board gave a presentation that made this discovery sound 500 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 2: like it was Walter Reid's work that happened at a 501 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 2: session Finlay was presiding over. Cuban delegates to this congress 502 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 2: were absolutely furious. 503 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: But Finley got more recognition in Europe and in Cuba. 504 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: He became a national hero. He was appointed Chief Sanitary 505 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: Officer of Cuba. After Cuba became formally independent in nineteen 506 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: oh two. This work included mosquito control and eradication programs, 507 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: something that had started all across areas that were affected 508 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: by yellow fever as soon as RED made this announcement. 509 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: These efforts led to yellow fever being eradicated in the 510 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: southern United States and then a number of tropical cities 511 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 1: and towns. Although these mosquito control efforts involved the use 512 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: of insecticides that did not target only mosquitos, they killed 513 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: other insects as well, and the insecticides also had other 514 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: health effects of their own. Finley continued to work on 515 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: matters of public health in Cuba, including an anti high 516 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: infantile tetanus campaign. This included research carried out in nineteen 517 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,440 Speaker 1: oh three which showed that wics that were being used 518 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,359 Speaker 1: to tie off the umbilical cords of newborns provided a 519 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 1: favorable medium for tetanus to grow. Finlay developed a program 520 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,319 Speaker 1: for distributing aseptic packages for treating the umbilica cord to 521 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: poor parts of Cuba, and that led to a steep 522 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:29,839 Speaker 1: drop in infantile tentanus rates. Finlay retired in nineteen oh nine. 523 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: In nineteen eleven, The New York Times published a piece 524 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:38,239 Speaker 1: titled Doctor Finlay gets full credit now. Havana physician who 525 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,760 Speaker 1: solved the yellow fever problem is extolled here and abroad 526 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: using the name Charles, which Finlay did use himself in 527 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: work that was published in English. It described his research 528 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: prior to the arrival of the Read Commission, and it 529 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: summarized a paper written by a doctor from Edinburgh who wrote, 530 00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: in part quote considering the Times that will eventually be 531 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,759 Speaker 1: considered one of the most wonderful pieces of constructive work 532 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 1: in the history of medicine. But like every other advance, 533 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 1: it was rejected by contemporaries. Unlike nearly all. 534 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 2: Other great medical discoverers, however, he has lived to see 535 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 2: the acceptance of his facts and has not had to 536 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 2: die of a broken heart. But it has been enough 537 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 2: to break anyone's heart to see himself so utterly ignored, 538 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,200 Speaker 2: while the world has been singing the praises of the 539 00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 2: men upon whom he forced his ideas. Carlos Juan Finley 540 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 2: died on August twentieth, nineteen fifteen, at the age of 541 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 2: eighty two. He had written forty articles on yellow fever 542 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,839 Speaker 2: over the course of his career, and many many other 543 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 2: articles on other diseases. And conditions. Over the course of 544 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 2: his life. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 545 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 2: Physiology or Medicine seven times, but he was never awarded it. 546 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:57,799 Speaker 1: He was briefly. 547 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 2: Acknowledged when Max Thuyler was awarded the Nobel Prize in 548 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 2: nineteen fifty one for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and 549 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,879 Speaker 2: how to combat it. Those discoveries included an attenuated form 550 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,360 Speaker 2: of the virus that could be used as a vaccine. 551 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,879 Speaker 2: Part of the presentation speech said quote. As early as 552 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 2: the eighteenth century, the abundance of mosquitos and places where 553 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 2: the disease occurred has been observed, and in eighteen eighty one, 554 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 2: doctor Carlos Spinlay, a Cuban physician in Havana, had written 555 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 2: a treatise in which he asserted that the disease was 556 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 2: transmitted by mosquitoes, but his assertion drew little attention. As 557 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 2: we said earlier, Finley became a national hero in Cuba. 558 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 2: He was honored with postage, stamps and street names. The 559 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 2: Finlay Institute for Investigations in Tropical Medicine was established in 560 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 2: his honor after his death in twenty thirteen. He was 561 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 2: also honored with a Google Doodle for his one hundred 562 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,440 Speaker 2: eightieth birthday. A yellow fever, of course, still exists today. 563 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 2: Researchers started discovering viruses and differentiating them from bacteria and 564 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 2: toxins at the very end of the nineteenth and early 565 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 2: twentieth centuries. The yellow fever virus was isolated for the 566 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 2: first time during a massive outbreak in Africa in nineteen 567 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,400 Speaker 2: twenty seven. Today, the World Health Organization lists twenty seven 568 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 2: countries in Africa and thirteen in Latin America as at 569 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 2: high risk for yellow fever outbreaks. Protection from mosquito bites, 570 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,800 Speaker 2: eliminating stagnant water, and mosquito eradication programs can all reduce 571 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 2: the risk of yellow fever outbreaks and outbreaks of other 572 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:44,040 Speaker 2: mosquito born diseases, but the disease cannot be eliminated entirely. 573 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 2: In addition to AD's Egypti, which lives in urban areas, 574 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 2: it can also be carried by other mosquitoes that live 575 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 2: in the jungle and feed primarily on monkeys, so there's 576 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,359 Speaker 2: ongoing circulation of the disease in jungle environments, which can 577 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,399 Speaker 2: then be carried back to human settlements when people get 578 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:06,280 Speaker 2: bitten in the jungle and then return home. Yellow fever 579 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,840 Speaker 2: is vaccine preventable today, and while there are some anti 580 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 2: viral treatments that are used on occasion, there's no specific 581 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 2: yellow fever anti viral. Most people who contract it receive 582 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 2: supportive care. So that's Carlos swan Finlay. Finally, after many 583 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 2: years of wanting to do this episode, do you have. 584 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,000 Speaker 1: A listener mail? I wanted to say, listener mail that 585 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 1: you've been waiting to read for several years, but I 586 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,399 Speaker 1: know that's not true, though, I mean, I could try 587 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 1: to look for some from way way in the past, 588 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,440 Speaker 1: but I won't. Rather than reading a specific male, I 589 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,560 Speaker 1: wanted to talk generally about the theme of some email 590 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 1: because when we did our episode on bagatsingh Thin, we 591 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 1: talked about how to pronounce the religion sick and how 592 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,719 Speaker 1: there are people who pronounce it seek and we have 593 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:01,319 Speaker 1: gotten some feedback from folks whose relatives who immigrated from 594 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 1: India do pronounce it seekh. 595 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,799 Speaker 2: So I wanted to talk a little bit more about that. 596 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,880 Speaker 2: The people that I listened to on how to pronounce 597 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 2: this name are themselves six some of them are six 598 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 2: from India or somewhere else in the Indian subcontinent or 599 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,439 Speaker 2: immigrants to the United States who are six and they 600 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:26,919 Speaker 2: were pretty specifically adamant that sick is the correct pronunciation, 601 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 2: although as we said, like there's some nuance in how 602 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 2: to pronounce it with that vowel sound that I cannot 603 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,880 Speaker 2: hear the difference and how it's being said. 604 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:44,839 Speaker 1: That said, the pronunciation of sikh was incredibly widespread here 605 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:51,200 Speaker 1: in the US, incredibly widespread in former British territory and 606 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 1: what's now like India and Pakistan and Bangladesh and all 607 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,319 Speaker 1: of that. And so the way it's really been characterized 608 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:02,719 Speaker 1: is the pronounce nunciation of seek being a pronunciation that 609 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:07,240 Speaker 1: evolved because of British colonization of that part of the world, 610 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,719 Speaker 1: and that the pronunciation of sick is like reclaiming the 611 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: correct pronunciation from one that had been anglicized many years ago. 612 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: Absolutely unsurprising that people's maybe older relatives, maybe people who 613 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,640 Speaker 1: came to the United States a long time ago, might 614 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:27,800 Speaker 1: be using the pronunciation seek and that might sound correct 615 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,319 Speaker 1: to them because that's the one that they grew up 616 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:31,479 Speaker 1: with and have always used. 617 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 2: But a lot of people have talked about trying to 618 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:41,280 Speaker 2: reclaim the pronunciation of sick as the correct pronunciation now today. 619 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:43,400 Speaker 2: So yeah, I think Holly and I, when you and 620 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,000 Speaker 2: I were talking about it, we both had always heard 621 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,400 Speaker 2: the pronunciation seek from earlier in our lives. Yeah, and 622 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 2: all of that, So I just wanted to give a 623 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 2: little more context to that after getting some email about it. 624 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,560 Speaker 2: If you would like to send us an email about anything, 625 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:06,279 Speaker 2: we're at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. And if 626 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 2: you want to find the show notes to this episode 627 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,719 Speaker 2: with all of our research that we used, it is 628 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:15,920 Speaker 2: at our website which is at mistonhistory dot com. And 629 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,839 Speaker 2: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 630 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:26,960 Speaker 2: but anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff 631 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,760 Speaker 2: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 632 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:34,680 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 633 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:36,840 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.