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Presentation at the Fifth International Sanitary Conference

When: 1881
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: Carlos Finlay presents his mosquito-transmission theory of yellow fever at the Fifth International Sanitary Conference

Carlos Finlay presented his mosquito-transmission theory for yellow fever at the Fifth International Sanitary Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1881.

Finlay proposed that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes served as vectors for yellow fever, challenging the prevailing view of direct transmission. The conference was notable as the first to include United States participation. His theory was poorly received, leading to ridicule and mockery from attendees.

Sources

International Sanitary Conferences Wikipedia, revision of 2026-03-31
Carlos Finlay Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24
Yellow fever Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.