Carlos Finlay

Infobox Scientist
name = Carlos Finlay
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image_size =
caption = Carlos Finlay
birth_date = December 3 1833
birth_place = Puerto Principe, Cuba
death_date = August 20 1915
death_place = Havana
residence =
nationality = Cuba
ethnicity = Scottish/French
field = Medicine
work_institutions =
alma_mater = Jefferson Medical College
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = Mosquito and yellow fever
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Carlos Juan Finlay (born Juan Carlos Finlay y Barrés on December 3 1833, Puerto Principe, Cuba – August 20 1915, Havana, Cuba), was a Cuban physician and scientist.

Biography

Early life and education

Finlay was born in Puerto Principe, Cuba, of French and Scottish descent. He changed his name to Carlos Juan Finlay later in his life. In 1853 he attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1855, and completed his studies in Havana, and in Paris. Afterwards he settled in Havana and opened a medical practice.

Professional career

Carlos identifying the mosquito as a carrier of the organism causing yellow fever, now known as a disease vector. His theory was followed by the recommendation to control the mosquito population as a way to control the spread of yellow fever. His work, carried out during the 1870s finally came to prominence in 1900. He was the first to theorize in 1881 that a mosquito was the way by which yellow fever was transmitted; a mosquito that bites a victim of the disease could bite a healthy person and spread the disease. A year later he identified the organism transmitting yellow fever to be in the genus "Aedes". of 1900. Finlay went on to become the chief health officer of Cuba from 1902 to 1909.

In the words of General Leonard Wood, a physician and U.S. military governor of Cuba in 1900: "The confirmation of Dr. Finlay's doctrine is the greatest step forward made in medical science since Jenner's discovery of the vaccination."

This discovery helped William C. Gorgas of Alabama reduce the incidence and prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases in Panama during the American campaign from 1903 onwards to construct the Panama Canal. Prior to this about 10% of the workforce died each year from malaria and yellow fever.

In the city of Marianao in Havana, Cuba, there is a monument honoring Dr. Finlay. This monument has the shape of a syringe and it is usually referred to as "El Obelisco" ("The Obelisk"). Finlay was also commemorated on a 1981 Cuban stamp. [ [http://www.bugsonstamps.com/cuba/cuba_15_mosquito_2431.htm Cuba - Mosquito ] at www.bugsonstamps.com] A statue commemorating Dr. Finlay is located on the bayfront in Panama City, near the canal he helped make possible. The United Nations (UNESCO) prize for Microbiology is named in his honor.

ee also

* Healthcare of Cuba

References

*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Del Regato
first=J A
year=2001
title=Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915)
journal=Journal of public health policy
volume=22
issue=1
pages=98-104
pmid = 11382093
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Tan
first=S Y
coauthors=Sung H
year=2008
month=May
title=Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915): of mosquitoes and yellow fever
journal=Singapore medical journal
volume=49
issue=5
pages=370-1
pmid = 18465043
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Amster
first=L J
year=1987
month=May
title=Carlos J. Finlay: the mosquito man
journal=Hosp. Pract. (Off. Ed.)
volume=22
issue=5
pages=223-5, 229-30, 233 passim
pmid = 3106375
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Del Regato
first=J A
authorlink=
title=Carlos Finlay and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
journal=The Pharos of Alpha Omega Alpha-Honor Medical Society. Alpha Omega Alpha
volume=50
issue=2
pages=5-9
pmid = 3299405
*cite journal
quotes = yes
year=1966|month=Dec
title=Carlos J. Finlay (1833-1915) student of yellow fever
journal=JAMA
volume=198
issue=11
pages=1210-1
pmid = 5332541
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Rodriguez Cabarrocas
first=R
year=1960|month=Aug
title=Carlos J. FINLAY and yellow fever
journal=The Bulletin of the Tulane Medical Faculty
volume=19
pages=219-28
pmid = 13742573
* Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971) The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
* Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390.