The scientist sacrificed himself by letting mosquitoes bite him to death.

American scientist Jesse William Lazear sacrificed himself to help prove that mosquitoes are carriers of deadly diseases.

Yellow fever originated in the African rainforests and was introduced to the Americas in the 16th century through European colonization and the transatlantic slave trade. Photo: @Labroots.

The disease then flourished in the temperate tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America and the Caribbean. Photo: @Science Photo Library.

Strange outbreaks of this disease have occurred for centuries, but it wasn't until the Spanish-American War of 1898 that yellow fever truly captured American attention, after it claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers in Cuba. Photo: @Medbullets Step 1.

Nearly 20 years ago, a Cuban doctor named Carlos Finlay researched a bold hypothesis that yellow fever was transmitted through

mosquito

And this disease is not transmitted directly from person to person. But nobody believes this theory. Photo: @Institut Pasteur.

When Carlos Finlay presented his ideas at the International Hygiene Conference in 1881, his colleagues rejected them and actually laughed at him. Photo: @Health Digest.

Shocked by the number of deaths in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, the U.S. military assembled a team of leading scientists including Walter Reed, James Carroll,

Jesse William Lazer

and Aristides Agramonte – to investigate the cause of the disease. Photo: @icipe.

Known as the Yellow Fever Committee, their initial work failed to prove the disease was caused by the bacterium Bacillus icteroides, so they switched to the controversial hypothesis put forward by Finlay. Photo: @Hazelhill Family Practice.

Much has changed since Finlay first proposed his theory in 1881. In the late 19th century, British and Italian researchers discovered that Anopheles mosquitoes were responsible for transmitting malaria parasites, thus paving the way for treatments and prevention of this deadly disease. (Image: @The Native Antigen Company)

Suddenly, the mosquito hypothesis no longer seemed absurd. William Lazear, along with Carroll and another young soldier, then allowed Cuban mosquitoes to bite them in an experiment to gain biomedical knowledge. While Carroll and the soldier recovered and survived, Lazear died of yellow fever on September 25, 1900. (Image: @Wikipedia)

The subsequent discovery by the Yellow Fever Commission helped change the course of medical history. With the role of mosquitoes confirmed, targeted efforts to control this insect helped prevent yellow fever in many parts of the world . Photo: @Shorthandstories.

Sadly, this breakthrough came at the cost of a courageous scientist's life and countless other unfortunate victims. Photo: @iNaturalist.

We invite our readers to watch the video : 5 OF THE MOST TERRIBLE PANDEMICS IN HUMAN HISTORY. Video source: @BATTLECRY - WORLD HISTORY.

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