The Mississippi Valley's great yellow fever epidemic of 1878 / Khaled J. Bloom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloom, Khaled J., 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yellow fever--Mississippi River Valley--History--19th century.

Yellow fever.

Yellow fever--Mississippi River Valley--Epidemiology.

Yellow Fever--history.

Epidemiology.

History.

United States.

Disease Outbreaks--history.

History, 19th Century.

Mississippi River Valley.

Medical Subjects:

Yellow Fever--history.

United States.

Disease Outbreaks--history.

History, 19th Century.

Physical Description:

x, 290 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [1993]

Summary:

The yellow fever epidemic that swept through the Mississippi Valley in 1878 claimed nearly 20,000 lives, earning a reputation as one of the most deadly and terrifying events in United States history. This study by Khaled Bloom presents the first complete account of the outbreak and its historical and ecological background. It is sure to become the definitive work on the last great epidemic of nineteenth-century America. Drawing on a vast range of sources, including newspapers, medical journals, public documents, and manuscripts, Bloom focuses on the epidemiological and etiological aspects of the event and frames it within the long-term problem of yellow fever in the Mississippi Valley. The 1878 epidemic began on the back streets of New Orleans, mysteriously and swiftly spreading inland along the rivers and railroads to strike communities as far north as Ohio and Illinois. The city of Memphis and many towns had to be evacuated, and a quarter of the country lay paralyzed under the rule of shotgun quarantine. While sanitarians strove unsuccessfully to bring it under control, the scourge was responsible for fatality rates of 50 percent in some places. Bloom's skillfully crafted analysis provides a fascinating perspective on the nineteenth century's confused response to a terrifying malady, illuminating the psychological and scientific climate of the time. The great epidemic struck at a time when theories about the nature of yellow fever and other infectious diseases were in transition. Local health boards acted on the idea that a germ propagating on the ground was the cause of yellow fever, and sprinkled carbolic acid to disinfect threatened areas. The public fell back on time-honoredexpedients, burning straw and pine tar in the streets to purify the noxious atmosphere. Meanwhile, fatalists called for fasting and prayer. Estimates of the epidemic's economic cost to the country ran as high as $200 million, an amount equal to nearly one-third of the nation's annual exports. The wide diffusion of the contagion and its broad economic impact meant that yellow fever was a national rather than regional concern, and spurred federal, state, and local governments to begin to overhaul and refine quarantine and sanitation policies. But until it was discovered that mosquitoes carry the virus, these governmental efforts would only amount to swinging at phantoms. The Mississippi Valley's Great Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 details an important chapter in American medical and environmental history. It also gives insight into the ways people have coped with epidemic crises for which available scientific explanations did not provide solutions, making the book particularly useful in efforts to understand modern approaches to the control of infectious diseases. It will be an asset to anyone interested in American, southern, or medical history.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0807118249

OCLC:

27435306