Mosquitoes and Yellow Fever 211 



The densely populated city was unprepared, the public had to be 

 educated, and an efficient organization built up. The local authori- 

 ties actively began a general fight against the mosquito but in spite 

 of their best efforts the disease continued to spread. It was recog- 

 nized that more rigid organization was needed and on August 12th 

 the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service was 

 put in absolute charge of the fight. Up to this time there had been 

 one hundred and forty-two deaths from a total of nine hundred and 

 thirteen cases and all of the conditions seemed to threaten an out- 

 break to exceed the memorable one of 1878 when, as we have seen 

 there were four thousand and forty-six deaths. 



With the hearty cooperation of the citizens, — ^physicians and 

 laymen alike, — ^the fight was waged and long before frost or any near 

 approach thereto the disease was stamped out, — a thing unheard of 

 in previous epidemics. The total loss of life was four hundred and 

 sixty — about 11 per cent as great as that from the comparable epi- 

 demic of 1878. If the disease had been promptly recognized and 

 combated with the energy which marked the fight later in the sum- 

 mer, the outbreak would have made little headway and the great 

 proportion of these lives would have been saved. 



