science · 03 October 1844 · 180 years ago
birth
Born 3 Oct 1844; died 9 Apr 1922 at age 77.
Scottish physician and parasitologist who has been called the “father of tropical medicine.” He was the first to identify an insect for the spread of infection (1877-79). While working at Amoy, China, he found the development phase of filaria worms in the tissues of blood-sucking mosquitoes. This parasite worm causes the filariasis disease when transferred to human body tissues. In 1894, he proposed a mosquito-malaria hypothesis. Manson moved to Hong Kong (1883-89), where he set up a medical school. In 1886 he co-founded Dairy Farm to produce contamination-free cows' milk. He also researched sleeping sickness and beri-beri, and helped introduce vaccination to the Chinese. He inspired Alphonse Laveran's discovery of the malarial parasite, and Sir Ronald Ross's proof of transmission of malaria by Anopheles mosquitoes.
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