Google pays tribute to Malaysian epidemiologist Dr Wu, inventor of the surgical mask

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Google Doodle today honoured the late Malaysian-Chinese epidemiologist Dr Wu Lien-teh, who invented the surgical face mask, on his 142nd birthday today.

Dr Wu, who was born to Chinese immigrant parents in Penang in 1879 on this day, went on to become the first student of ethnic Chinese descent to earn his medical degree from Cambridge University.

Dr Wu, a staunch advocate of medical advancement, is also Malaysia’s first Nobel Prize nominee in 1935.

He was at that time nominated for the prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine for his work to control the pneumonic plague.

This was after Dr Wu’s work in China, following his appointment to investigate an unknown epidemic at that time, which had affected north-western China. He later identified the disease to be a highly contagious pneumonic plague which had human to human respiratory transmission.

This discovery led Dr Wu to design and produce a special surgical mask with cotton and gauze, adding several layers of cloth to filter inhalations.

He had also advised people to wear his new invention and worked with government officials to establish quarantine stations and hospitals, restrict travel and apply progressive sterilisation techniques. Dr Wu’s work helped to end the pandemic, known as the Manchurian plague, by April 1911, merely four months after taking the task to address the outbreak.

Google also shared thoughts from Dr Wu’s great-granddaughter, Dr Shan Woo Liu, on the Doodle homage.

“We are honoured that Google is celebrating our great-grandfather’s birthday. Just over a century ago, he helped fight off a plague in China and developed techniques such as mask-wearing, that we still use today in our battle against Covid-19.

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