Mosquito Warrior: Yellow Fever, Public Health, and the Forgotten Career of General William C. Gorgas

Summary

Mosquito Warrior tells the engrossing story of General William C. Gorgas (1854–1920), the once-renowned pioneer in tropical disease research and public health. His fascinating life illuminates vast transformations in the United States.

Gorgas came of age amidst war and disease and the politics of racial segregation. He followed his father into military service as an army medical officer. Gorgas applied Walter Reed's research on the theory of mosquito-borne disease transmission, ending centuries of yellow fever in Havana through the eradication of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Applying similar strategies on the isthmus of Panama against yellow fever and malaria, Gorgas enabled the completion of the Panama Canal. Hailed a hero, he pursued his fight against mosquito-borne disease throughout the tropics. Appointed as United States Army surgeon general, Gorgas resumed work modernizing the army health care system.

Celebrated in life, Gorgas's reputation fell victim to competing political interests and jealousies after his death, a cautionary tale about historical memory and the politics of science and personality. Carol R. Byerly's balanced and contemporary examination of Gorgas illuminates his complex legacy in medicine and public health, military history, and American ambitions at the dawn of United States global ascendency.