There will always be big and small twists and turns and difficulties in life, natural disasters and man-made disasters are also unavoidable, plague, also known as the Black Death, has broken out three times in human history, each time causing a huge disaster. The first plague outbreak in history killed more than 100 million people worldwide, and the second plague killed one-third of the entire European population. In December 1910, the third plague broke out in China's three eastern provinces, quickly spreading to many areas, killing hundreds of people every day, an unprecedented catastrophe.
And at the moment of crisis, a person appeared, he spent less than 4 months, extinguished this huge disaster, saved tens of thousands of lives, his name is Wu Liande. Born in a Malaysian family of overseas Chinese, Wu Liande grew up and got the opportunity to study in the UK. At that time, the conditions in Malaysia were not good, the medical conditions of the local civilians were very poor, and it was still a British colony, so Wu Liande chose to study medicine and wanted to improve the medical situation in Malaysia.
At the age of 24, Wu Liande graduated from Cambridge University with a doctorate in medicine and returned to Malaysia to open a clinic. In 1907, Wu Liande was invited back to China and served at the Tianjin Army Medical Hall. Three years after returning to China, a large-scale plague broke out, and Wu Liande was ordered to go to the northeast where the plague was most severely affected for diagnosis and treatment. At that time, the epidemic spread rapidly, and in just a few days, it quickly spread to the entire northeast region, killing 30,000 people in two or three months.
After twists and turns, Wu Liande finally reached Harbin, and after arriving in Harbin, he immediately launched action and took many measures to prevent this disaster. But there is a big problem that has not been solved, in order to determine the root cause of the epidemic, it is necessary to dissect the corpse, but at that time, people were more feudal in thinking, and they paid attention to entering the soil for safety. In order to find the cause as soon as possible, Wu Liande could only do it secretly, and this was also the first pathological anatomy recorded in Chinese history.
Later, Wu Liande found Y. pestis in the corpse and determined that the outbreak was plague. However, foreign experts believe that this plague belongs to bubonic plague, which is infected by fluttering and rat bites, so the solution is to eliminate rodents throughout the territory. But rodent extermination is extinguished, and the epidemic has not been suppressed. Apparently the source was still not found, Wu Liande again dissected the corpse, which finally determined that the plague was pneumonic plague, transmitted by breathing and droplets, and the most urgent task was to isolate the patient. At first, Wu Liande's diagnosis was not recognized by foreign experts, until one of the foreign experts contracted the plague and died.
At this time, Wu Liande proposed to block the city, cut off traffic, and fully isolate the patients, and everyone needed to wear masks and other protection. All measures have been taken, but the epidemic is still not under control, Wu Liande reviewed every link, and found that the problem was in the corpse, the corpse was not effectively treated, naturally could not suppress the epidemic, and the consequences were even more unimaginable when the weather warmed.
But Wu Liande knows that burning corpses is a big taboo and is likely to cause resistance from the people, but the epidemic prevention work cannot be delayed. In the end, Wu Liande could only write a letter to the imperial court, hoping to obtain the support of the Qing dynasty, and the court was also chaotic after receiving the letter. After thinking for three days, Zaifeng agreed with Wu Liande's approach and began cremating the body,
Under the Wu Liande Plan, China began its first large-scale cremation of corpses, in which the bodies of plague-infected patients, with or without coffins, were burned directly in the fire. After the whole process, the plague was finally controlled on a large scale, which is a meritorious achievement that has been recorded in history. In less than four months, this catastrophe that afflicted the world was finally extinguished. In March 1911, the death toll from the plague was zero, and the disaster came to an end.
Wu Liande has made great dedication, saved countless lives and families, and the set of epidemic prevention measures he set at that time is still the best way to do it today. Because of Wu Liande's great contributions, the Qing Dynasty also gave him the title of "Medical Scholar", although the Qing government died the following year. Wu Liande made a name for himself in the world as a "plague fighter", and he became China's authoritative representative of medicine in the world.
Wu Liande's medical road did not stop, and then long-term development in disease control work, on September 9, 1926 established Harbin Medical University, which was the first medical university in Northeast China. In 1935, Wu Liande was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, which was the first time Chinese went to the Nobel in modern times. However, the news that Wu Liande was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine was only known to the world in 2007.