The New Student's Reference Work/Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever (Yellow Jack), an acute specific disease occurring within certain geographical limits; mostly in the West Indies, whence it is carried to climates where the temperature is above 72° F. It is characterized by a fever of short duration, a yellow tint of the skin, gastrointestinal disturbances and hemorrhages into the skin and mucous membranes. The precise nature of its virus is unknown. A severe visitation occurred in the lower Mississippi Valley in 1874, with 5,000 deaths in New Orleans and Memphis. Until the American occupation of Cuba yellow fever was practically never absent from that island. Experiments carried on in Cuba by the medical department of the United States army proved that the disease is communicated from one individual to another only by a single species of mosquito (Stegomyia Fasciata). Sanitary scientists predict confidently that the world will soon be rid of this scourge through improvement of hygienic conditions and the avoidance of the mosquito.