Yellow Jack

The end of a scourge

"The prayer that has been mine for twenty years, that I might be permitted in some way or some time to do something to alleviate human suffering, has been answered!"
--Major Walter Reed, writing to his wife, New Year's Eve, 1900

As he wrote to his wife of his stunning success in the mission to identify the cause of yellow fever and find a way to eradicate the disease, Walter Reed had answered the prayers of millions. For more than 250 years, the yellow jack had ravaged the Americas, bringing death to millions and striking panic in entire populations. The very mention of its presence in a city or town produced instant chaos as thousands fled in terror, leaving the frail, the weak, and the ill to fend for themselves.

Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the compelling story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who struggled to understand and eradicate yellow fever. Risking everything for the cause of science and humanity, Reed and his teammates on the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board invaded the heart of enemy territory in Cuba to pursue the disease--and made one of the twentieth century's greatest medical discoveries. This thrilling adventure tells the timeless tale of their courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the face of adversity.

Preface vii

Introduction: The Forgotten Scourge 1

1 Yellow Fever Comes to America 7

2 The Capital Under Siege 23

3 Nothing but a Yellow Fever 34

4 Yellow Fever Moves South 47

5 The Nation Threatened 60

6 Yellow Fever’s Odd Couple 75

7 Walter Reed 87

8 Spanish Bullets and Yellow Fever 101

9 The Opportunity of a Lifetime 135

10 “A Soldier’s Chances” 148

11 Putting It All Together 165

12 Affirmation 173

13 Presentation 189

14 Recognition 205

15 Historic Application 215

16 Yellow Fever after Walter Reed 224

Epilogue: After Cuba 240

Afterword: Yellow Fever Today 245

Acknowledgments 249

Notes 250

Bibliography 259

Index 271

Illustrations begin on page 123

"A fascinating examination of how science works in the real world. This book may inspire future Walter Reeds to solve tomorrow's medical mysteries." (Journal of College Science Teaching) JOHN R. PIERCE, M.D. (Col. MC, U.S. Army, Ret.), wrote the series of articles on which this book is based for Stripe, a publication for Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) personnel and included on dcmilitary.com, a Web site for military personnel in the Washington, D.C., area. Pierce recently retired after thirty years of active duty, a significant portion of that spent at WRAMC. With Pierce, JIM WRITER coedited a supplement to the journal Military Medicine on the 1900 Yellow Fever Board. Like wars and natural disasters, epidemics tend to bring out both the best and the worst in people. Throughout most of its two-and-a-half-century killing spree across North America, yellow fever brought out only the worst. Characterized by seemingly random outbreaks that attacked people of all ages and walks of life, this excruciatingly painful and violent disease spread panic and chaos in communities that had weathered smallpox, typhoid, and other deadly epidemics with relative calm. Those who could run fled in every direction; parents abandoned infected children; friends and relatives shunned each other; businesses failed; governments collapsed; and thousands died in solitary agony with no one to care for them.

Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the remarkable and triumphant story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who brought their very best to the battle against yellow fever.

Based in large part on a massive body of research collected by Dr. Philip S. Hench, this thrilling medical adventure follows the exploits of the four-member U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board, led by U.S. Army major and physician Walter Reed. In the aftermath of the Spanish American War, the team assembled in Cuba—long believed to be the fount of yellow fever—on one of the most dangerous missions in medical history.

Risking not only their own lives, but also those of the many volunteers who agreed to be infected with the virus, the team devised a series of elegantly simple experiments to pursue the disease as far as the science and technology of the era would allow. During their short stay in Cuba, these intrepid researchers overturned the leading theories of the day on the cause, spread, and control of yellow fever; they also presented sound new theories that were proven very quickly in practical application. By the end of 1901, Havana was free of yellow fever for the first time in a hundred years. By 1905, the disease was banished from both Cuba and the United States.

Every victory has its costs as well as its triumphs. One Army Board member was killed in action by yellow fever; another was severely wounded by the disease. One was soon forgotten by history, while another became an enduring symbol of the can-do American military and medical men so revered in the early twentieth century. Yellow Jack is a testament to both their tragic sacrifices and their stunning accomplishments.

The end of a scourge

"The prayer that has been mine for twenty years, that I might be permitted in some way or some time to do something to alleviate human suffering, has been answered!"
—Major Walter Reed, writing to his wife, New Year's Eve, 1900

As he wrote to his wife of his stunning success in the mission to identify the cause of yellow fever and find a way to eradicate the disease, Walter Reed had answered the prayers of millions. For more than 250 years, the yellow jack had ravaged the Americas, bringing death to millions and striking panic in entire populations. The very mention of its presence in a city or town produced instant chaos as thousands fled in terror, leaving the frail, the weak, and the ill to fend for themselves.

Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the compelling story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who struggled to understand and eradicate yellow fever. Risking everything for the cause of science and humanity, Reed and his teammates on the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board invaded the heart of enemy territory in Cuba to pursue the disease—and made one of the twentieth century's greatest medical discoveries. This thrilling adventure tells the timeless tale of their courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the face of adversity.