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Dr. Wu Lien-Tuh

By Anonymous



Dr. Wu Lien-Tuh

Wu Lien-Tuh was born in Penang, Malaya, a British colony at the time. His father was an immigrant from China, and his mother also had a Chinese background. At age 17, Wu began studying medicine at Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge. He was the first person of Chinese descent to graduate from Cambridge with a medical degree. He continued to study transmissible diseases at the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, England, and at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. Wu returned to Malaya in 1903 where he married, worked as a physician, and promoted social and educational reforms. He and his family moved to China in 1907.


The Great Manchurian Plague

In 1910, an extremely deadly epidemic quickly spread throughout northeastern China, an area which functioned as a crossroads between several nations. The outbreak, which had a mortality rate greater than 95 percent, caused widespread international concern. The Chinese government sent Doctor Wu to the affected areas. He led an international coalition of doctors and scientists to fight the disease. Wu performed the first post-mortem exam done in China, and he discovered that the disease was spreading through the air. He then designed a mask which he encouraged everyone to wear. It was made of two layers of gauze with a cotton filter in the center.

This design was successful because of its simplicity and efficiency. The materials were inexpensive, widely available, and easily assembled. In addition, Wu’s mask was disposable, so it did not require disinfection. Many well-regarded doctors, who were more experienced and came from Europe, Russia, and Japan, doubted the effectiveness of Wu’s mask. A French doctor known as Dr. Gérald Mesny ridiculed Dr. Wu and, he refused to wear a mask while visiting a hospital. Mesny died of the disease only a few days later. His death caused officials to take Dr. Wu’s recommendations more seriously. The plague was over in only seven months, thanks to Dr. Wu’s containment efforts.

Dr. Wu Lien-Tuh was not a designer. However, his extremely effective mask became a symbol of victory against the deadly 1910 Manchurian epidemic. People continued to use Wu’s mask as China battled countless other disease outbreaks throughout the 1900s. During the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, people all across the world used masks similar to the ones that Dr. Wu designed. Some claim that Wu’s mask was the inspiration for the N-95 masks that healthcare professionals wear during today’s epidemics.


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