Dr Viegas: The forgotten hero of Bombay bubonic plague

Even as the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, several historians have harked back to the year 1918 when an influenza virus had a devastating global impact. However, very few have spoken about the Bombay Bubonic Plague in the late 19th century, which killed thousands. One such medical practitioner during the Bubonic Plague in Mumbai, who risked his life was Dr Acacio Gabriel Viegas. Today on Doctor’s Day we revisit the heroic efforts of this Goan doctor who risked his life to treat 18,000 residents of Bombay from the deadly plague.