1924-25 — Nov-Feb, Typhoid Fever from West Sayville, LI, NY contaminated raw oysters-~150

–~150  Flynn. “Deadliest U.S. Foodborne Illness Outbreaks.” Food Safety News, 11-8-2011.

—  150  Flynn. “Oyster-Borne Typhoid Fever Killed 150 in Winter of 1924-25.” Food Safety News, 3-28-2012.

 

Chicago                      (>23)

–100  Berger. Typhoid and Enteric Fever: Global Status. “The United States.” 2018, p. 261.

—  23  Bundesen. “Typhoid Epidemic in Chicago Apparently Due to Oysters.” JAMA, 2-28-1925.

–1  Nov 7.

–1  Nov 14.

–2  Dec 5.

–4  Dec 12.

–1  Dec 19.

–3  Dec 26.

–2  Jan 2.

–5  Jan 16.

–3  Jan 23.

–1  Jan 30

 

New York City          (~90)

–650  Cases. Berger. Typhoid and Enteric Fever: Global Status. “The U.S.” 2018, p. 261.

–373 Typhoid and paratyphoid fever deaths all of 1924.

–~90  Blanchard estimate.[1]

 

Washington DC        (    ?)

–121  Cases. Washington Post. “Oysters Here Tested for Typhoid Germs.” 12-16-1924, p. 11.

—  50  Cases. Berger. Typhoid and Enteric Fever: Global Status. “The U.S.” 2018, p. 261.

—  18  Deaths, all of 1924. US Census Mortality Statistics, 1924, p. 237.

 

Narrative Information

 

Flynn (2011): “1924-25, New York City. Approximately 150 killed out of 1,500 sickened by typhoid from raw oysters.

 

“At a time when New York was the center of the nation’s oyster business, harvested oysters were kept in baskets below the water line near sewage outtakes. Untreated sewage containing typhoid bacteria contaminated the oysters, which eventually were shipped across the country on refrigerated rail cars.” (Flynn, Dan. “Deadliest U.S. Foodborne Illness Outbreaks.” Food Safety News, 11-8-2011.)

 

Flynn (2012): “The deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in U.S. history killed 150 of the estimated 1,500 sickened with typhoid fever. The Atlantic Seaboard oyster industry was responsible and it, too, would pay a high price. Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease, caused by Salmonella Typhi. It is transmitted by ingesting food or drink contaminated by the feces or urine of infected people….

 

“The 150 who died in the deadliest outbreak might have been sick as many as three weeks, when they possibly would have been delirious or lying motionless from exhaustion, eyes half closed in what is called “the typhoid state….

 

“The oyster-borne typhoid epidemic occurred without warning. “Late in the winter of 1924, simultaneous outbreaks of typhoid fever were noted in Chicago, New York, Washington and several other cities,” according to  a report by the 1954 National Conference on Shellfish Sanitation….

 

“The epidemic was fought as separate outbreaks in the cities of Chicago, New York and Washington….

 

“It was not until Feb. 10, 1925 that the New York Times was able to report that the ‘typhoid oysters’ were from West Sayville on Long Island. ‘The main factor in the spread of typhoid fever in New York, Chicago, and Washington was oysters distributed by one company operating near West Sayville, NY,’ in the opinion of the Public Health Service. ‘One of the practices of the past that is known to be dangerous is the ‘drinking’ or ‘floating’ or ‘fattening’ of oysters,’ the journal[2] stated, explaining that “the oysters grow in salt water. After being removed from the beds, it has been the custom to put them in brackish water, often near to cities, where pollution with sewage may exist.’ ‘The oysters take up the water, become whiter in color, plumper and perhaps more attractive looking, but if the water is polluted, they take in the germs which may be present in sewage,’ it continued.  ‘The new laws, as far as they have been proposed, prohibit this practice.’….

 

“The 1924-25 epidemic was the first time an outbreak of foodborne illness captured nationwide attention. It would not be the last.” (Flynn, Dan. “Oyster-Borne Typhoid Fever Killed 150 in Winter of 1924-25.” Food Safety News, 3-28-2012.)

 

Chicago

 

Bundesen Abstract: “From Nov. 30, 1924, to Jan. 21, 1925, there were reported to the department of health of Chicago 129 verified cases of typhoid fever. The normal expectancy for this period, based on a previous seven-year non-epidemic average number of cases reported weekly, is thirty-three cases. A special effort was made to get all cases reported. December 9, when an excess of twenty typhoid fever cases had been reported, a postal card was sent to all physicians in the city, calling attention to the outbreak. A similar notice was printed in the Bulletin of the Chicago Medical Society, December 11. All hospitals in the city were telephoned to regarding the prompt reporting of cases. The date of onset of the epidemic is given as Nov. 30, 1924, because on that date four cases were reported. During the previous week only four cases were reported. During the preceding twenty-nine days of November, seventeen cases were reported.”

 

Sources

 

Bundesen, Herman N., MD. “Typhoid Epidemic in Chicago Apparently Due to Oysters.” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 84, No. 9, 2-28-1925, pp. 641-650. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/234363?redirect=true

 

Flynn, Dan. “Deadliest U.S. Foodborne Illness Outbreaks.” Food Safety News, 11-8-2011. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/a-top-10-list-of-deadliest-foodborne-illness-outbreaks/#.WsuuS5ch2nI

 

Flynn, Dan. “Oyster-Borne Typhoid Fever Killed 150 in Winter of 1924-25.” Food Safety News, 3-28-2012. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/editors-note-in-the-winter/#.Wsu_C5ch2nJ

 

Berger, Stephen, MD. Typhoid and Enteric Fever: Global Status. “The United States.” Gideon E-Book Series, 2018. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=JEVLDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

United Press International. “Typhoid Has Killed Many, East States.” Madera Daily Tribune, CA, 12-11-1924, p. 1. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19241211.2.16

 

Washington Post. “Oysters Here Tested for Typhoid Germs.” 12-16-1924, p. 11. Accessed 4-9-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-post-dec-16-1924-p-11/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Our guestimate. We know that there were approximately 150 deaths, mostly in three states. We know that there were 373 typhoid and paratyphoid fever deaths in 1924. We do not have the 1925 figures. We divided 373 typhoid deaths by 12 months, and then multiplied that number by three months (our guestimate of the time-frame most of the NY deaths would have occurred). The result is 93, which we round down to ninety. In that the contaminated oysters came from New Island New York and that there were 650 cases in New York City, we think this conservative.

[2] American Journal of Public Health.