2 YELLOW FEVER PROPHYLAXIS IN NEW ORLEANS 



passing unrecorded. Those who. survived this epidemic were 

 regarded as immunes, and to this fact may reasonably be 

 attributed the long interval of comparative immuriity which New 

 Orleans subsequently enjoyed.' From 1897 to 1900 the Yellow 

 Fever Returns became again more numerous, 298 deaths being 

 certified in 1897. From igoo up to the recent epidemic no deaths 

 appear on the list. Thus, whilst the above table shews the liability 

 of the City to Yellow Fever, it also demonstrates that the latter could 

 not be regarded as endemic in New Orleans. This liability to Yellow 

 Fever has arisen from two causes. Firstly, proximity to countries 

 in which Yellow Fever is either endemic or of frequent occurrence, 

 and secondly, presence of the conditions necessary to the propagation 

 of the disease in the City itself. 



Relationship of the Trade of New Orleans to Yellow Fever. 



The sea trade of New Orleans is very large, and there is a 

 constant intercourse with Mexico, Cuba and the Central American 

 Republics. Ships from Vera Cruz, Colon and other Gulf and Central 

 American Ports have frequently arrived at the Mississippi Quarantine 

 Station or at Ship Island with a passenger or member of the crew 

 suffering from Yellow Fever, or developing the symptoms shortly after 

 arrival in quarantine. The following list compiled from 1905 shews 

 the reality of this method of transport of the disease : — 



July II — S.S. Royal Exchange from Colon i case 



July 12 — S.S. Sapphir ,, Colon i ,, 



Aug. 5 — S.S. Texan ,, Vera Cruz i ,, 



Aug. 15 — S.S. Puerto Rico ,. Vera Cruz i ,, 



Aug. 20 — S.S. Sapphir ,, Colon 3 cases 



Sept. I — S.S. Origen ,, Colon i case 



Oct. 26 — S.S. City of Tampico ,, Vera Cruz i ,, 



Oct. 27 — S.S. St. Croix .'. ,, \'era Cruz.... i ,, 



These cases were all detected at the Mississippi Quarantine 

 Station, but the possibility of a sailor or passenger eluding vigilance 

 early in the year and reaching New Orleans and infecting the 

 Stegomyia in the City cannot be altogether excluded. This is not, 

 moreover, the only way in which ships may transfer Yellow Fever, 

 they may also act as the carriers of infected mosquitoes, and although 

 we have evidence that this was of far more frequent occurrence in the 

 old days of sailing vessels than at the present day, there still exists 

 the possibility of this method of mosquito transference. Carter, from 



