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Walter Reed, M.D. (1851-1902)
Walter Reed, M.D. (1851-1902):
Walter Reed is best known for his work in controlling yellow fever. From 1899 to 1901, he led a team of Army doctors in Cuba who proved that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. Eliminating stagnant breeding pools sharply reduced transmission of the disease. This discovery enabled workers to complete construction on the Panama canal and led to the eradication of yellow fever in the southern United States.
Born in rural Virginia, Reed studied at Bellevue Medical Hospital in New York City before joining the Army Medical Corps in 1875. After numerous posts on the western frontier, Colonel Reed joined the Army Medical Museum (predecessor to the National Museum of Health and Medicine) as curator in 1893. Following his work on yellow fever, Reed returned to his duties at the Museum and was about to assume its directorship when he died suddenly from a ruptured appendix.
Reed's close friend, Dr. W.C. Borden, who attended him in his final illness, was the driving force behind creating Walter Reed Hospital. In 1909, Borden succeeding in having the hospital named after his friend. |