
Until the early 20th century, the transmission of malaria was unknown. Doctors would argue about what malaria was, what caused it, and how it spread, everything was up in the air about the disease. In 1897, Sir Ronald Ross dissected the stomach tissue of an anopheline mosquito that had previously fed on a malaria patient. Ross found the malaria parasite and went on to prove to the scientific community and everyone else that mosquitoes were the real culprits for transmitting malaria. However, before this, the late 1800s were full of doctors claiming absurd things regarding malaria.