How Malaysian plague fighter Wu Lien-teh laid down lessons for coronavirus
- A century ago, Wu stopped a pneumonic plague that killed 60,000 in northeast China using preventive measures considered ahead of their time
- Wu’s lessons still hold relevance in modern medicine today, a Singapore professor says
Wu Lien-teh, a doctor from Penang, was called to Harbin in 1910 to combat a plague, which he found was being transmitted from diseased animals to humans amid a bustling fur trade. More than 95 per cent of infected patients died.
Wu implemented preventive measures to contain the outbreak at a time when antibiotics were not available, including setting up quarantine units, imposing travel bans, and convincing Russian and Japanese authorities to shut railway services to Harbin. Patients who had succumbed to the plague were also cremated in large numbers in hygienic locations.
Wu’s records of his containment efforts – found today at the library of the National University of Singapore (NUS) – formed the basis for accurate clinical decisions in terms of treatment and infection prevention, said Paul Tambyah, President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
“They also provided valuable information for policymakers who had to make decisions about quarantine, shutting down sections of cities and the allocation of resources,” said Tambyah, a professor of medicine.
“This dramatic escalation of global travel highlighted the perils of emerging infectious diseases,” he said.
