EPIDEMIC DISEASES, SANITARY CONTROL OF. 



293 



occurred during the summer of 1882 to test it 

 still further. A serious epidemic of yellow 

 fever broke out iu Bagdad, Tampico, and Mat- 

 amoras, Mexico, and soon spread to Browns- 

 ville, in the State of Texas. There were in 

 a short time, out of a city of some 5,000 in- 

 habitants, between five and six hundred per- 

 sons sick of yellow fever. A general panic pre- 

 vailed throughout Southwestern Texas, and 

 refugees were leaving that part of the State in 

 great numbers, as it was believed the infection 

 would rapidly and certainly extend to the sur- 

 rounding country. In these circumstances, an 

 appropriation of $100,000 having been placed 

 at the disposal of the Treasury Department by 

 the President, to prevent the spread of epi- 

 demics, the Governor of the State of Texas ap- 

 plied to the Secretary of the Treasury for assist- 

 ance from the General Government ; and, as the 

 exact area of the infected region was undeter- 

 mined, at my suggestion a cordon was immedi- 

 ately established from Corpus Christi, on the 

 Gulf, to Laredo, on the Rio Grande, along the 

 line of the Texas and Mexican Railway. No 

 person was allowed to pass this cordon until 

 after ten days' detention at some one of the 

 quarantine stations (represented by flags upon 

 the accompanying map),* that length of time 

 being considered necessary to determine wheth- 

 er or not the particular person would be at- 

 tacked with yellow fever. Baggage was not 

 allowed to cross the line upon any pretext. A 

 hospital was established in the city of Browns- 

 ville, a dispensary opened, and experienced 

 physicians and nurses sent there, who were 

 constantly employed in the treatment of the 

 poor, and all persons unable to pay were treat- 

 ed and cared for at the public expense. These 

 physicians also aided the health authorities of 

 the city in carrying out sanitary measures, in- 

 cluding the fumigation of houses. 



As soon as practicable after opening the 

 hospital, an inner protection cordon was estab- 

 lished, thirty miles from Brownsville, the orig- 

 inal cordon having been one hundred and 

 eighty miles distant. Perfect liberty was al- 

 lowed to the inhabitants of the infected city to 

 leave at any time, and they were encouraged 

 to scatter in camps ; but they were not allowed 

 to cross the cordon until after personal deten- 

 tion of ten days, and fumigation of their wear- 

 ing-apparel ; and, as in the case of the outer 

 cordon, the crossing of baggage was positively 

 interdicted. It was intended to remove the 

 upper cordon between Laredo and Corpus 

 Christi within ten days after the formation of 

 the inner one, which extended from Santa 

 Maria, on the Rio Grande, to the mouth of the 

 Sol Colorado ; but it was retained for several 

 days longer, as certain of the refugees who 

 had left Brownsville prior to the establish- 

 ment of the Colorado cordon developed yellow 

 fever. They were quarantined in the camps 

 where they were, and their infected bedding 

 and baggage burned. The fever continued its 

 * See page 292. 



spread and devastation on the Mexican side 

 of the Rio .Grande, and Reynosa, Camargo, 

 Mier, and Guerrero successively became in- 

 fected. It was then found necessary to pro- 

 tect the entire line of the Rio Grande, from 

 Laredo to Santa Maria, a distance of nearly five 

 hundred miles, by a cordon. The upper cor- 

 don, from Laredo to Corpus Christi, was then 

 removed, and the line re-established along the 

 Rio Grande, and the crossing-places carefully 

 guarded; and, although the towns in Mexico 

 were greatly devastated by the disease, there 

 was no extension of it in Texas : on the con- 

 trary, it was confined to the limited district 

 where it first appeared, bounded by the Colo- 

 rado cordon on the one hand and the Gulf of 

 Mexico upon the other. The Mexicans, see- 

 ing the good effects of the sanitary cordon 

 in the United States, followed the example, 

 and established quarantine stations in Mex- 

 ico, guarding against the infected towns ; and 

 there, too, the quarantine proved successful, 

 and arrested the spread of the disease. The 

 Governor, the State Health Officer, and the 

 State officers generally, assisted the work of 

 the Government by all the means at their 

 command. It was, however, opposed by the 

 mayor of the city. In July, a few cases of 

 yellow fever appeared in Pensacola, Fla., and 

 later the disease became epidemic, and, as 

 in Texas, a general panic .prevailed. The vil- 

 lages and towns surrounding Pensacola estab- 

 lished a rigid quarantine against it, no person 

 from that city being allowed to enter except 

 after proper detention and fumigation. In 

 consequence of this, the towns that had thus 

 protected themselves by the quarantine were 

 not infected, and the disease did not spread, 

 while the places adjoining, that did not quar- 

 antine against Pensacola, had the fever. The 

 Government also protected its navy-yard, which 

 joins the city of Pensacola, by means of a 

 sanitary cordon and non-intercourse with the 

 city during the prevalence of the epidemic, 

 and it, too, escaped. With these facts and this 

 experience to guide us, it may be safely as- 

 serted that with proper management it is pos- 

 sible to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases 

 from one locality to another. 



To prevent the recurrence of epidemics, it is 

 necessary to adopt the same measures as those 

 recommended in the beginning to prevent its 

 original introduction. It is, that all fomites 

 should be either carefully and well fumigated 

 or destroyed, and the utmost cleanliness should 

 be enjoined ; and if it were possible to do so, 

 as in the case of Russia, houses that are noto- 

 riously infected should be burned and their 

 owners compensated from the public funds. It 

 is greatly to be feared that the failure to burn 

 infected bedding and clothing in Texas and 

 Mexico may result in the reappearance of the 

 yellow fever during the coming season. This 

 disaster may be prevented if timely action be 

 taken. It is, however, owing to 'the political 

 constitution of the country, beyond the con- 



