On this day, 114 years ago, on January 7, 1911 (December 7, 1910), Rouse was the first to discover the cancer virus. Francis Peyton Rouse January 21, 1911. According to a report published today by Francis Peyton Rouse, an internist and virologist at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City, cancer tumors are caused by viruses. This is a first in medical history. In 1910, a chicken farmer gave Rouse a strangely developed chicken. He extracted the infectious agent from the cancerous tumor of this chicken and injected it into several other healthy chickens, so the cancer symptoms were passed on to these healthy chickens. Since this contaminant can penetrate thin membranes, it appears to be the smallest of all microorganisms - a virus. Dr. Rouse graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. His medical degree is perfect, but his research findings are controversial in the scientific community. There is no evidence that cancer is contagious to humans or animals, so there is no reason to be overly alarmed.