Walter Reed
Major Walter Reed, the Army physician who confirmed that mosquitoes transmit yellow fever, was born in Gloucester County, Virginia.
- Profession
- Physician, Army surgeon
- From
- Belroi, Virginia
- Born
- September 13, 1851
- Years active
- 1875–1902
Early life
Born in Belroi in 1851, Reed earned a medical degree from the University of Virginia at just seventeen and joined the Army Medical Corps.
Career
He led the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board in Cuba, whose experiments proved that the disease is spread by mosquitoes.
Major achievements
His work enabled the control of yellow fever and made possible the building of the Panama Canal.
Legacy
Reed's name endures at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and across the field of tropical medicine.
References
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