1924 Oct-Nov esp. Pneumonic and Bubonic Plague Epidemic, Los Angeles, CA –35-37

lornajarrettblanchard October 1, 1924

–37 Rasmussen. “In 1924 Los Angeles, a Scourge From the Middle Ages.” LA Times, 3-25-2006.

–36 Kohn, George (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence… (Revised Ed.). 2001, p. 206.

–35 Dickie.[1] Weekly Bulletin, CA State Board of Health. Vol. IV, No. 34, 10-3-1925, p. 133.

–33 By Nov 12. AP. “Two More Dead of Plague…” Bakersfield Californian, 11-12-1924, p. 2

–30 By Nov 8. AP. “Only Two Deaths…” Bakersfield Morning Echo, 11-8-1924, p. 1.

–28 By Nov 7. Bakersfield Californian. “War is Declared on Rats…” 11-7-1924, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Dickie: “….An outbreak of pneumonic plague occurred in California during the fall of 1924. The bringing under control of this epidemic required all available state and local health resources. Fortunately, the outbreak was checked successfully within a short time after the occurrence of the first case. There were 32 cases of pneumonic plague with 30 deaths, and 7 cases of bubonic plague with 5 deaths. During the period November 1, 1924, to June 27, 1925, 190 plague infected rats and 7 plague infected ground squirrels[2] were proven in the laboratory. All of these infected rodents were found within a short distance of the location of the original outbreak. In the campaign undertaken, no less than 145,000 rats were exterminated, 2,473 buildings were demolished, which buildings had an appraised value of $747,000. At least 7,500 buildings were made rat-proof at an approximate expenditure by property owners of $2,777,000. This is the first outbreak of pneumonic plague to be traced to infected rats. It is the second pneumonic plague outbreak to have occurred in the United States. The first outbreak of this disease occurred in Oakland, California, in 1919, at which time there were 14 cases with 13 deaths.” (Dickie. Weekly Bulletin, CA State Board of Health. IV/34, 10-3-1925, pp. 133-134.)

Kohn: “Los Angeles Plague of 1924-25 — Worst U.S. outbreak of pneumonic plague[3] (also the last such occurrence in an American urban environment) and the last time an American plague epidemic would involve rats. During the outbreak, 31 of the 33 pneumonic plague cases were fatal, while five of the eight people infected with bubonic plague died.

“The epidemic took place in the Mexican section of Los Angeles where the first victim fell ill on October 1, 1924, and developed a femoral bubo originally diagnosed as venereal disease. Although he recovered, his daughter and others in his neighborhood fell ill and died.

“By October 28, 15 people were infected, and all of them died within three days. There were seven more plague victims on October 29. The epidemic in Los Angeles was underway.

“The victims complained of plague symptoms such as stupor, high fever and chills, headaches, and, most important, very large, lymphatic swellings under their arms, in the neck, or in the groin….

“Most of the deaths from plague had already occurred by the time sanitation and public health measures were instituted. The plague-ridden area of the city was isolated and food portions given to the frightened residents, who were informed of their predicament. Although the serum arrived, it was used on only one patient, By November 1924, a campaign against rats was undertaken in the city close to the harbor, rather than in the Mexican section, to forestall a port quarantine that could disrupt business. Eventually, a harbor quarantine took place, anyway. By early 1925, the plague epidemic had ended.”

Rasmussen: “It was a warm, summery day in late September 1924 when a group of Mexican immigrants began to congregate outside a boardinghouse on Clara Street, north of what is now Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and west of Vignes Street. It was a small, bustling, mostly Latino community near downtown, where the Twin Towers jail complex now stands. Folks were listening to Jesus Lajun’s comical story about his detective work in tracking down an overpowering and nauseating odor beneath his house. He had found a decaying rat, he told them; he picked it up with one hand and threw it in the trash.

“A week later, Clara Street was in mourning. Lajun’s daughter, Francesca, 15, was dead, a victim of what the coroner called double pneumonia.

“Then, a neighbor, Lucena Samarano, who was six months pregnant and had cared for Francesca while she was ill, miscarried and also died. A few days after her funeral, attended by a host of friends, Samarano’s husband, Guadalupe, died. Within six weeks, the only survivor of the eight-member Samarano family was 14-month-old Raul.

“The man who had found the rat, Lajun — also spelled Loujon — was nursing a bloody cough and a painful, egg-sized swollen gland in his groin. By the end of October, he too was dead.

An ambulance driver who transported the sick became ill and died. So did Father M. Brualla, who had administered last rites to several victims and said Mass at Lucena Samarano’s funeral. Within days, a dozen more deaths occurred in the neighborhood and in the Belvedere district on the east side of the river, according to Dr. Robert S. Cleland, a former Los Angeles County Hospital pathologist who colorfully described the events in a 1971 article for Westways magazine.

“Doctors suspected meningitis, influenza, pneumonia, even typhus. But the culprit was something more insidious that had inspired fear since before the Middle Ages.

“Plague had crept into San Francisco in 1900, probably carried by fleas on rats aboard a ship that had stopped in China….The disease smoldered in San Francisco until the epidemic ended in 1908, after 280 cases and 172 deaths… But that didn’t mean the end of plague in the United States. The disease moved from San Francisco rats to ground squirrels and other wild rodents and spread into the Sierra, the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. It reached Oakland in 1919 — and Los Angeles in 1924….”[4]

Newspapers and Periodicals

Nov 1, UP: “By United Press: Los Angeles, November 1. — Twelve new cases of the epidemic declared by city health officials to be the pneumonic plague were reported this afternoon. The new outbreaks are in the Mexican district where the disease has already claimed a dozen lives during the past few days, the first fatalities being among the mourners at the funeral of Mrs. Luciana Samarano, who died of the disease. The latest cases are believed to be members of families or friends of those who attended the woman’s funeral.

“Whether or nor additional deaths have occurred since the three occurring this morning could not be learned. Five victims were declared by Dr. Elmer R. Pascoe, acting city health officer, to be near death.

“Dr. Pascoe, Mayor Cryer and the officials of the Chamber of Commerce held a conference today and decided to withhold any official statement concerning the epidemic.

Plague Develops.

“Los Angeles, November 1. — A pneumonic plague has developed in this city. Three more victims of a mysterious ailment which struck mourners at a recent funeral here died today, bringing the fatality total to twelve. The remaining five of the 17 present at the last rites for Mrs. Luciana Samarano on October 19 cannot survive, physicians at the general hospital isolation ward reported. The mortality will be 100 per cent they believe.

“Victor Samarano, 30, Urbano Hurtado, 24, and Joe Bagnoles, 35, succumbed during the morning. The five still alive, but not expected to recover are Mrs. Jesus Valenquela, whose husband died during the week; Efron Herrere, 72; Mrs. Rosefa Christianson, Alfred Burnett, 10 and Gilberto Samarano, 14.

“Three more relatives of the death victims were stricken with the same disease today and rushed to the hospital. They were not present at the Samarano funeral, where the scourge was contracted.

Many Exposed.

“Probability of other Mexicans, relatives or friends of the original 17 who attended the Samarano rites, having been exposed to the plague, was admitted by health authorities.

“A cordon of guards has been thrown around every house in which any one resides who might contract the disease.

“Meanwhile, post-mortems are being rushed and germs examined in an effort to classify the ailment.

“From all indications, the disease is a type of the war-time ‘flu,’ health department officials said today, as they peered through their microscopes and examined the germs closely. It is far more severe ailment, however, than the ‘flu’ of 1918, subjecting the victim to congestion of both lungs, and a high temperature. It strikes much more suddenly and carries its victims off within a few hours after the first trace, physicians said.

Form of Pneumonia.

“`The plague is a form of double pneumonia. Both lungs become infected and the temperature goes to a high mark. Death follows swiftly, generally within four days after the disease first appears. The mortality is very high. In the case of the 17 Mexicans who have contracted it, we feel that the death total will be 100 per cent…’ Dr. Pascoe said.

“Three districts are under guard, it was revealed. They are in the 1200 block on South Hill street, the Samarano residence on Clara street, in the North Broadway section, and a portion of the Belvedere suburb, east of the city, where some of the victims resided.

“`The pneumonic plague is the same disease which struck London Low in the fifteenth century,’ Dr. Pascoe said. ‘We do not know how it originated. As far as we can determine, Mrs. Samarano was the first victim. It is evident, of course, that the others contracted it from her, presumably while attending funeral services over the corpse. We have no reports of the disease outside of the friends and relatives of the Samarano family, and we hope that it has been checked and will be held in bounds.’….

“Every house where the disease has originated will be thoroughly fumigated with cyanide of chlorine gas, the ordinary formaldehyde disinfectants being considered insufficient.

“Mrs. Samarano died at the little house on Clara street, October 17, according to health department records. Two days later, relatives and friends of the family gathered for the funeral. One week later, last Sunday, the woman’s husband, Guadalupe Samarano, died suddenly, a victim of the same disease, which has now been identified as the pneumonic plague. A few hours later, Florence Sanroman, who attended Mrs. Samarano’s funeral, succumbed. During the week, seven more relatives or friends of the family, who attended the funeral, became suddenly ill and died after a short illness.” (United Press. “Plague Kills 12 Persons in Los Angeles,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-1-1924, pp. 1 and 9.)

Nov 3: “Los Angeles, November 3. — One death during the night brought the toll of victims in the pneumonia epidemic which has developed in the Mexican section of the city to 23, according to the best figures available today.[5] “Seven persons are in the hospital, stricken with the disease and additional deaths are expected. Seven men and women died during Sunday [Nov 2]. Of yesterday’s victims, five were Mexicans. One was Father M. Brulla, pastor of the Plaza Catholic Church, who is believed to have become exposed to the plague while administering rites of the church to a dying parishioner.

“Another of the latest to succumb was Emmett McLauthin, ambulance driver, who is supposed to have been exposed while transporting a patient to the General hospital.

“Despite that fact that the death toll now includes more than the original 17 who contracted the disease while attending the funeral service of Mrs. Luciana Samarano on October 19, city and state health department authorities are optimistic.” (Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA. “Death Total is 23.” 11-3-1924, p. 13.)

Nov 4, UP: “By United Press. Los Angeles, November 4. — Belief that the original case has been found from which the pneumonic epidemic started in the Mexican district of Los Angeles was expressed by physicians of the city health department today. The patient, who is still alive, has been subjected to a rigid examination and it is declared if the victim is found to be the first case of the disease which has claimed 25 lives during the past two weeks, work of eradicating the epidemic will be made easier.

“A conference of state and city health officers has been called for this afternoon and a statement concerning the situation will follow, it is expected.

“No additional deaths or new cases were reported during the forenoon the health department stated.

“By United Press, Philadelphia, November 4. — An airplane loaded with serum to combat the deadly pneumonic plague in the Mexican quarter of Los Angeles is racing across the continent today.

Assume Control.

“By United Press. Los Angeles, November 4. — The state department of health today took over complete control of the campaign to eradicate the pneumonic epidemic which has claimed 25 lives in the Mexican district of Los Angeles during the past two weeks….” (United Press. “State Board in Control in L.A.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-4-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 6, UP: “By United Press. Los Angeles, November 6. — Another victim of the pneumonic epidemic in Sonoratown, the local Mexican settlement, died at the general hospital today, bringing the death total to date to 27. Juliane Guilland, a woman, is the latest person to be claimed by the disease. Two new cases have been admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital, it was reported, making eight being treated.

“Spread of the pneumonic epidemic which broke out in the Mexican section of Los Angeles has been definitely halted, health department officials believed.

“With discovery of the original case from which the disease spread, physicians combating the epidemic today admitted the local malady originated from a bubonic plague victim…” (United Press. “Believe Disease Plague is Halted.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-6-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 7, Bakersfield Californian: “Alarmed by the spread of the pneumonic plague in Los Angeles and other southern California cities, City Manager James Ogden today issued a statement advising the immediate launching of an extensive rat-extermination campaign in Bakersfield. The plague in Los Angeles, which has taken a toll of 28 victims since th disease was first discovered October 19, has been traced directly to rats, according to officials. The city manager’s announcement followed close on the heels of a similar announcement by Fresno city officials, to prevent an outbreak of the plague which is terrifying Los Angeles residents….

“If the plague continues to sweep other cities Bakersfield city officials may take similar action to that of Pasadena city officials who purchased several tons of rat poison and 1000 traps for free distribution among resident.

“In Bakersfield there are any rats, which health authorities declare to be a great menace at all times….” (Bakersfield Californian. “War is Declared on Rats in Bakersfield to Keep Pneumonic Plague Out; City Edict.” 11-7-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 7, AP: “By the Associated Press. Los Angeles, Nov. 7. — Hopes of health authorities to…[word unclear] the epidemic of pneumonic plague in the Mexican colony here were sustained tonight when only two new deaths had been reported in the past 24 hours, Dr. Walter M. Dickie, secretary of the state board of health and director of the anti-plague committee, announced. The total death list is now thirty. Further favorable indications were that no new cases of the disease have been reported since yesterday. The total number of cases since the flare-up October 19 is 36….” (AP. “Only Two Deaths Since Yesterday.” Bakersfield Morning Echo, 11-8-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 8, State Board of Health Weekly Bulletin: “Pneumonic plague has appeared among Mexican residents of Los Angeles. Following the death of a Mexican woman who lived just outside of the city, cases of the disease appeared among residents of Los Angeles who attended her funeral. Nearly all, if not every one, of the contacts at this funeral have died, as well as a priest, a nurse and an ambulance driver. At this writing there have been twenty-two deaths in the original group of twenty-eight cases….” (California State Board of Health. “Pneumonic Plague Appears in Los Angeles,” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 39, 11-8-1924, p. 153.)

Nov 10, UP: “By United Press. Los Angeles, November 10. Belief that the pneumonic plague epidemic among local Mexicans has been halted was expressed by health authorities today with no reports of additional cases received for the past four days. Six victims of the malady are still in the general hospital while 30 have died since the disease first broke out nearly a month ago.

“A rigid quarantine is still maintained around the few blocks in Sonora town, where the epidemic originated, with armed policemen on guard night and day around the area. They are stationed at 25-foot intervals and all residents of the district are closely confined.” (UP. “Halt Pneumonic Plague in L.A.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, 11-10-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 10, Bakersfield Morning Echo: “Los Angeles, Nov. 10. — Two cases of suspected bubonic plague, about four blocks north of that portion of the Mexican quarter quarantined as a result of an epidemic of the pneumonic plague here, were placed under observation today by health authorities. Both are children, one nine years of age and the other 14 months. There have been no deaths in connection with the epidemic since last Friday….

“Dr. W. M. Dickie, secretary of the state board of health, today asked city authorities to adopt two protective ordinances, one requiring that all future structures be made rat proof, and the other giving health authorities power to condemn unsanitary buildings….” (Bakersfield Morning Echo, CA. “Two Suspected Bubonic Cases In Los Angeles,” 11-11-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 12, AP: “Associated Press Leased Wire. Los Angeles, Nov. 12. — Two deaths from bubonic plague and one from pneumonic plague were reported by health officials here Tuesday, raising the total of plague deaths since October 19 to 33. The two bubonic cases which proved fatal had been discovered and isolated. They were found about four blocks from the Mexican quarter district in which the pneumonic plague…broke out last month. Five other pneumonic cases are still under treatment in the isolation ward of the general hospital.” (AP. “Two More Dead of Plague Southland.” Bakersfield Californian, 11-12-1924, p. 2.)

Nov 14, UP: “By United Press. Los Angeles, November 14. — Fifteen hundred Mexicans, confined to their homes for two weeks, today walked the streets of local Sonara-town with their fellow countrymen, following lifting of the pneumonic plague quarantine by state and city health department officials. With no new cases of the disease reported for the past week, the guard of armed policemen stationed at 20-foot intervals around the eight blocks where the epidemic broke out has been removed. Thirty-three deaths, according to health department officials, have been attributed to the disease, now definitely stamped out.” (UP. “Plague Quarantine Lifted in L.A. Area.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, 11-14-1924, p. 2.)

Nov 15: “The so-called pneumonic plague is now under control, according to a telegram sent to the San Francisco chamber of commerce by the Los Angeles chamber. The telegram in full follows: ‘State Health Board bulletin expresses full confidence that virulent pneumonia, so called pneumonic plague, is now under full control. There has been only one new case in four days and improvement is reported in the ten remaining cases. There have been only 35 cases in the entire city. This disease has appeared spasmodically in the state since 1899 but each epidemic has [been] thoroughly routed with comparatively small loss of life. Federal, state, county and city medicos agree that the disease is traceable to rodents, so are inaugurating a campaign to sweep the city clean of these pests. The section of the city where the disease has appeared is very isolated. It is two miles from the business district and many miles from the residential section. No main thoroughfares run through it and an air-tight quarantine is being maintained by the authorities. The state health bulletin says there is no cause for public alarm and danger. Please notify the press of your city.’” (Oxnard Daily Courier, CA. “Pneumonia Plague is Spasmodic According to Health Official.” 11-15-1924, p. 1.)

Nov 15: “Los Angeles, Nov. 15. — With 35 professional ‘rat catchers’ engaged at the harbor and with others skilled in the tricks taught by the Pied Piper of Hamlin Town, active in sections of the Mexican quarter, state and federal authorities directing the rodent eradication campaign in this city predict that the city’s population of these pests will be materially reduced within a month….Although the medical authorities agree that the disease is virtually stamped out, the rat cleanup is to prevent a future recurrence…

“With over five-hundred traps scattered through the foreign quarter, the campaign is being expeditiously handled under the direction of Edward Ross, state sanitary engineer and who has had previous experience in this work during similar outbreaks of the disease in both San Francisco and New Orleans.” (Bakersfield Morning Echo, CA. “Rat Catchers in South Are Active.” 11-16-1924, p. 6.)

Nov 18, AP: “By the Associated Press. Los Angeles, Nov. 18. — One new case in connection with the epidemic here of the bubonic and pneumonic plague was reported today by the state board of health. The patient, a Mexican, was a resident of the area which was release from quarantine last Saturday, and was suffering from the bubonic form of the disease, the report stated. The new case brings the total number to 39 since the outbreak of the epidemic October 19. No deaths from the epidemic have occurred since November 11.” (Associated Press. “Another Pneumonic Victim is Reported.” Bakersfield Morning Echo, 11-19-1924, p. 5.)

Nov 29, CA State Board of Health: “The quarantine imposed upon the Mexican quarter of Los Angeles has been lifted and the emergency conditions are now entirely disappeared, in so far as human cases of plague are concerned. Infected rats have been found in Los Angeles and the campaign for the eradication of rodents has only begun….” (“Plague Situation Clears in Los Angeles.” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 42, p. 166.)

Background Notes

1919, Dr. W. H. Kellogg, Secretary, California State Board of Health: “Until plague-infected ground squirrels are entirely eradicated from California we shall always have a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. So long as infection persists among the ground squirrels the possibility of an extension of the disease to the rats of the cities, and consequently to the human population, will exist. It may be one year, it may be five years, or it may be twenty years before this lighting up of the virulence of the infection will occur, but we can surmise from the world history of plague and its known tendency to slumber in endemic foci such as we have in the vicinity of San Francisco bay, that this will happen some time. We have now had a fair trial of the present method extending over ten years, which is to spend just enough money to keep the disease in check, but not enough to exterminate it. The only rational plan is to proceed vigorously and to prosecute the work at such a rate that an entire ten years’ allotment of funds is used up in a year or two.” (Quoted in California State Board of Health, “Progress Report of Plague in Los Angeles,” Weekly Report, Vol. III, No. 40, 11-15-1924, pp. 157-158.)

1923, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report for April 28, 1923: “Reading reports of public Health conditions throughout the world, during the past few years, makes one feel that he is fortunate in that he lives in a country where public health is safe-guarded properly. A statistical abstract recently issued as a parliamentary paper in England shows that during the decade 1910-1920, 3,500,000 residents of British India died of plague, a number equal to the entire population of California….Since the introduction of plague into India there have been more than 10,500,000 deaths from this disease.

“It was not many years ago that plague occurred in epidemic form in California [1900-04, 1907]. The disease is still slumbering within the state. A human case occurs occasionally and infected rodents, both rats and ground squirrels, are found continually. The United States Public Health Service, in cooperation with the State Board of Health, conducts operations toward determining the extent of the infection in this state. California is fortunate in that plague has not flared up recently.” (“Plague Slumbering in California,” Vol. II, No. 11, p. 2.)

1923, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report, Sep 8, 1923: “Another sporadic case of plague in a human being occurred in California last month. The patient, a young lady, sixteen years old, arrived in San Francisco from her home in Monterey County on the fifteenth of August and was taken ill on the eighteenth. The attending physician, on the twentieth, made a tentative diagnosis of plague, which was confirmed, bacteriologically, on the twenty-fourth. Dr. E. A. Dickson of the Stanford University Medical School discovered the plague organisms in smears from inoculated guinea pigs. His findings were substantiated by Dr. N. E. Wayson of the United States Public Health Service and Dr. W. H. Kellogg, Director of the State Hygienic Laboratory of the California State Board of Health. The source of infection is unknown, but it is assumed that the disease was contracted in the rural districts of Monterey County, where infected ground squirrels have been found. The patient is recovering.” (“Another Case of Plague in a Human Being,” Vol. II, No. 30, p. 3.)

1923, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report, Dec 22, 1923: “The United States Public Health Service announces in its annual report that all anti-plague work in states other than California has been discontinued. The announcement reads as follows:

‘The present report fore 1923 shows that the plague work, which has heretofore been the subject of much consideration in the annual reports, has, temporarily at least, practically faded from the picture. Both human and rodent plague appears to have been eradicated in the United States except for infected ground squirrels in California and all anti-plague measures in other states have been discontinued.

‘We are warned, however, that owing to the difficulty of completely exterminating rats on board vessels and the present widespread dissemination of plague, geographically, there is constant danger of the introduction of this disease at all seaports engaged in foreign trade.’” (“Anti-Plague Work. In California Only,” Vol. II, No. 45, p. 2.)

1924, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report, June 7, 1924: “Once more the people of the Punjab have to endure an epidemic of plague. The latest available statistics show that during the week ending April 5, 9000 deaths from plague have occurred. Owing to the severity of the outbreak, the Punjab government has ordered the closing of all courts. Panic prevails in the city of Lahore, where forty deaths are occurring daily. Many houses are deserted, and the more prosperous classes have removed to healthier localities. Vigorous measures are being taken by the public health department, and disinfection and inoculation are being carried out on an extensive scale. The number of rats destroyed exceeds 30,000. Segregation camps of brick huts have been erected outside the city. Over the greater part of India, the population during the last four years has come to regard plague as a thing of the past. Only in the Punjab does it recur each spring to remind the country of its existence. The disease has now weighed heavily on this province since 1900, and in the worst seasons the results have been calamitous. In 1906, the deaths in the Punjab rose to 675,000. Since 1900, the Punjab has lost 3,000,000 persons out of a total for the whole of India amounting to 10,250,000.

“The appearance of plague in India was first announced in Bombay in September, 1896. Within a month, frightened crowds were fleeing from the city, and by the end of the year the population had fallen by 150,000, and the fugitives had carried disease to every corner of the presidency. The health authorities have waged a vigorous campaign, which would have been more successful but for the ignorance and prejudices of the people. — London Correspondence, Journal of the American Medical Association, May 17, 1924.” (“Plague Is Still Epidemic in India,” Weekly Report, Vol. III, No. 17, 6-7-1924, p. 2.)

1924, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report, June 14, 1924: “Rats and ground squirrels are responsible for the spread of plague…one of the most rapidly fatal of all know diseases. This disease is actually transmitted by fleas that make their homes on these rodents. On the outskirts of cities rats and ground squirrels are frequently found occupying the same burrows. This contact makes it a very simple matter for plague to be transmitted from the rat to the squirrel population. Hunters, sometimes when choice game is not available, shoot ground squirrels which are said to make a delectable stew. This practice is not safe and should be discouraged, for the squirrels may be suffering from plague and infected fleas upon their bodies will quickly leave the cold, dead squirrels for any warm body that may come along. Many cases of plague in human beings have been contracted in this manner.

“There can be no good excuse for the existence of either rats or ground squirrels. They destroy our foodstuffs and infect us with communicable diseases. Premises that harbor rats are a source of danger to the occupants and to all the residents of the community. The presence of rats should never be tolerated. They are tenacious of life and continuous warfare is required for their destruction. Their extermination is a matter of necessity, however, for it is doubtful if civilization has any enemy more destructive or more dangerous than the rat.” (“Rats and Ground Squirrels. Radio Talk No. 8.” Vol. III, No. 18, 6-14-1924, p. 1.)

1924, in CA State Board of Health Weekly Report, Nov 3, 1924: “….Pneumonic plague is the celebrated ‘black plague’ of the fourteenth century which destroyed one-quarter of the population of Europe, and which carried off one-seventh of the population of London in the sixteenth century. After its disappearance from Europe, the disease appeared in a few isolated parts of the world and then gradually faded out. It was thought that the disease had disappeared altogether, but it made its reappearance in China in 1894, and from there spread over the world, having been carried by trade and travel routes to the four quarters of the globe. From the autumn of 1896 to the end of 1917, 10,000,000 people died of this disease in India. In Manchuria, during the winter of 1910-1911, this same pneumonic type of plague killed more than 45,000 people in a few months.

“There are three types of plague, the bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. In the bubonic and Septicemic forms of the disease the plague organism affects the glands, blood and other tissues and organs of the body. These two forms of the disease are transmitted through fleas that are commonly found upon rats. The pneumonic form of the disease, on the other hand, is transmitted directly from person to person, just as common colds are transmitted through the transference of sputum bu coughing and the spraying of sputum on the air. It is possible that it may be transmitted also by an infected flea bite. The pneumonia resulting from this type of infection is extremely rapid and fatal, the death rate being as high as 90 per cent.

“Fortunately, pneumonic plague does not flourish in dry climates where there is comparatively little moisture in the air. In wet northern countries, particularly during the winter months, it may take an enormous number of lives. Bubonic plague, then, is primarily an insect-borne infection, while pneumonic plague is a contact infection spread largely from person to person. Both forms of the disease, however, are caused by the same organism. Every outbreak of pneumonic plague undoubtedly starts from a case of bubonic plague. For this reason, ultimate control of the disease depends upon the eradication of all sources of bubonic plague….

“San Francisco, Seattle,[6] New Orleans,[7] Texas and Florida cities[8] have all suffered from outbreaks of bubonic plague, and in Oakland I 1919 there was an outbreak of pneumonic plague in which 13 persons died out of 14 infected. This last outbreak was undoubtedly started from contact with infected ground squirrels….” (“Plague and Its Prevention.” Radio Talk. Radiocasted from Station KGO, Oakland, 11-3-1924.

CDC on Plague:

“What is plague? Plague is an infectious disease that affects rodents, certain other animals, and humans. It is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria. These bacteria are found in many areas of the world, including the United States.

“How do people become infected with plague? People most commonly acquire plague when they are bitten by a flea that is infected with the plague bacteria. People can also become infected from direct contact with infected tissues or fluids while handling an animal that is sick with or that has died from plague. Finally, people can become infected from inhaling respiratory droplets after close contact with cats and humans with pneumonic plague.

“What are the different forms of plague?

“There are three forms of plague:

Bubonic plague: Patients develop sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes). This form is usually the result of an infected flea bite. The bacteria multiply in the lymph node closest to where the bacteria entered the human body. If the patient is not treated with appropriate antibiotics, the bacteria can spread to other parts of the body.

Septicemic plague: Patients develop fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially on fingers, toes, and the nose. Septicemic plague can occur as the first symptoms of plague, or may develop from untreated bubonic plague. This form results from bites of infected fleas or from handling an infected animal.

Pneumonic plague: Patients develop fever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery mucous. Pneumonic plague may develop from inhaling infectious droplets or from untreated bubonic or septicemic plague that spreads to the lungs. The pneumonia may cause respiratory failure and shock. Pneumonic plague is the most serious form of the disease and is the only form of plague that can be spread from person to person (by infectious droplets).”

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Plague. “Frequently Asked Questions.” 9-14-2015 update.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Another Pneumonic Victim is Reported.” Bakersfield Morning Echo, 11-19-1924, p. 5. Accessed 9-17-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-morning-echo/1924/11-19/page-13?tag

Associated Press. “Only Two Deaths Since Yesterday. Los Angeles Health Authorities Are Hoping Epidemic Curbed.” Bakersfield Morning Echo, 11-8-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-morning-echo/1924/11-08?tag

Associated Press. “Two More Dead of Plague Southland.” Bakersfield Californian, 11-12-1924, p. 2. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-californian/1924/11-12/page-2?tag

Bakersfield Californian. “War is Declared on Rats in Bakersfield to Keep Pneumonic Plague Out; City Edict.” 11-7-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-californian/1924/11-07/page-11?tag

Bakersfield Morning Echo, CA. “Rat Catchers in South Are Active.” 11-16-1924, p. 6. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-morning-echo/1924/11-16/page-16?tag

Bakersfield Morning Echo, CA. “Two Suspected Bubonic Cases In Los Angeles,” 11-11-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/bakersfield/bakersfield-morning-echo/1924/11-11?tag

Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA. “Death Total is 23.” 11-3-1924, p. 13. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-03/page-13?tag

California State Board of Health. “Another Case of Plague in a Human Being,” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 30, p. 3. Google digitized. Accessed 9-19-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Anti-Plague Work. In California Only,” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 45, p. 2. Google digitized. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Plague and Its Prevention.” Radio Talk. Radiocasted from Station KGO, Oakland, 11-3-1924. Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 40, 11-15-1924, p. 159. Google digitized. Accessed 9-21-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Plague Is Still Epidemic in India,” Weekly Report, Vol. III, No. 17, 6-7-1924, p. 2. Google digitized. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Plague Situation Clears in Los Angeles.” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 42, p. 166. Accessed 9-21-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Plague Slumbering in California,” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 11, p. 2. Google digitized. Accessed 9-19-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Pneumonic Plague Appears in Los Angeles,” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 39, 11-8-1924, p. 153. Google digitized. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health, “Progress Report of Plague in Los Angeles,” Weekly Report, Vol. III, No. 40, 11-15-1924, pp. 157-158. Google digitized. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

California State Board of Health. “Rats and Ground Squirrels. Radio Talk No. 8.” Weekly Bulletin, Vol. III, No. 18, 6-14-1924, p. 1. Google digitized. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Campanella, Richard. “The battle against bubonic plague: 100 years ago, New Orleans waged war on rats.” New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8-5-2014. Accessed 9-21-2016 at: http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2014/08/one_hundred_years_ago

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Plague. “Frequently Asked Questions.” 9-14-2015 update. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: https://www.cdc.gov/plague/faq/

Dickie, Walter M. (M.D.). “A Review of Communicable Disease Control in 1924-1925.” Weekly Bulletin, CA State Board of Health. Vol. IV, No. 34, 10-3-1925, pp. 133-136. Google digitized. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Florida Department of Health podcast. Bubonic Plague in Florida??! 2014. Accessed 9-21-2016 at: http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-from-animals/doh125-podcast5-bubonic-plague.txt

Florida Department of Health. Plague, “Plague Occurrence in Florida,” Accessed 9-21-2016 at: http://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/diseases-and-conditions/plague/index.html

Kohn, George Childs (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence From Ancient Times to the Present (Revised Edition). NY: Checkmark Books, 2001.

Oxnard Daily Courier, CA. “Pneumonia Plague is Spasmodic According to Health Official.” 11-15-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/oxnard/oxnard-daily-courier/1924/11-15?tag

Perry, J. C. (Senior Surgeon). “Plague in California.” Weekly Bulletin, California State Board of Health, Vol. I, No. 36, 10-2-1922, pp. 3-4. Google digitized. Accessed 9-18-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ow9AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Rasmussen, Cecilia. “In 1924 Los Angeles, a Scourge From the Middle Ages. It started with a dead rat in a poor neighborhood near downtown. Not two months later, 37 people had died from the plague.” Los Angeles Times, 3-25-2006. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/05/local/me-then5

United Press. “Believe Disease Plague is Halted.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-6-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-06?tag

United Press. “Halt Pneumonic Plague in L.A.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, 11-10-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-10?tag

United Press. “Plague Kills 12 Persons in Los Angeles,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-1-1924, pp. 1 and 9. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-01/

United Press. “Plague Quarantine Lifted in L.A. Area.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, 11-14-1924, p. 2. Accessed 9-16-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-14/page-2?tag

United Press. “State Board in Control in L.A.” Berkeley Daily Gazette, CA, 11-4-1924, p. 1. Accessed 9-15-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/berkeley/berkeley-daily-gazette/1924/11-04?tag

Washington State Department of Health, Zoonotic Disease Program. “History of Plague in Washington.” P. 1 in, Plague: Plague Surveillance in Washington State, Summary Report, 1975-2008. Olympia, WA: December 2009. Accessed 9-21-2016 at: http://www.doh.wa.gov/portals/1/Documents/Pubs/333-161.pdf

Wikipedia. “Ground squirrel.” 8-7-7-2016 modification. Accessed 9-20-2016 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_squirrel

[1] Dr. Walter M. Dickie. Secretary and Executive Officer, California State Board of Health.

[2] According to Wikipedia. “The ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents (Sciuridae) which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger one are more commonly known as marmots…or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks…..”

[3] Go to end of Narrative section for CDC description of the three forms of plague.

[4] A remnant of the 1900-1908 outbreak, however, is not the only way plague could have reached LA in 1924. In the California State Board of Health Weekly Bulletin for Oct 21, 1922, Dr. J. C. Perry of the US PHS writes: “The plague situation throughout the world is engaging the attention of sanitarians and those whose duty it is to combat an extension of this disease. There has been a sharp increase in human plague in several ports in the Orient, and rodent plague is widely disseminated. Three cases of plague in man have been reported in the Island of Hawaii since June 30^th of this year as a result of a focus of rodent infection….The danger of this disease spreading from infected rodents is well known, and when consideration is given to the endemic presence of plague in the ground squirrels of California and the occurrence of two widely separated cases of human plague from this source during the present year, it becomes pertinent to inquire what are the existing conditions as regards this disease in the state…” (p. 3.)

[5] At another place in the column it is written “The two men who died during the night, Frank Perino and Peter Harnandez, were the last victims of the disease…”

[6] “Washington’s reported history of human plague began in 1907, when three (possibly seven) people died in Seattle. Rats were subsequently trapped, tested, and found positive for plague from 1907-1917. Plague reappeared in Puget Sound when fleas from rats and other rodents tested positive for Y. pestis in Tacoma from 1942 to 1944, 1954, and again in 1971. The introduction of plague into Seattle and Tacoma was attributed to flea-infected rodents or persons arriving on foreign vessels, or flea-infested rodents transported in grain shipments from eastern Washington. Both cities instituted a rodent control program that included trapping, poisoning, and rat-proofing buildings and garbage disposals and was ultimately successful in suppressing plague transmission.” (“History of Plague in Washington,” p. 1 in Plague: Plague Surveillance in Washington State, Summary Report, 1975-2008, Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Health, Zoonotic Disease Program, December 2009.)

[7] In 1914, there were “around 30 human cases and 10 deaths” apparently brought into the city by “a 49-year-old Swedish sailor who had recently arrived in New Orleans agonized feverishly in a steamy downtown boarding house. Rushed to Charity Hospital, he would soon die the loneliest of deaths — in an isolation ward, far from home, surrounded by solemn doctors consulting furtively.” (Richard Campanella. “The battle against bubonic plague: 100 years ago, New Orleans waged war on rats.” New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8-5-2014.)

[8] “The last reported case of human plague in Florida occurred in 1920 during an outbreak in Pensacola.” Florida Department of Health. Plague, “Plague Occurrence in Florida,” Accessed 9-21-2016. Apparently there were six deaths from amongst ten cases. Florida Department of Health podcast. Bubonic Plague in Florida??! 2014.