AN AMERICAN PLAGUE, The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
By Jim Murphy
Clarion, 2003
Last week on the 11 o’clock news I saw footage of planes flying over parts of Massachusetts spraying for mosquitoes. I couldn’t help but wince at the sight. I am one of those people who hates the thought of my neighborhood being blanketed with airborne pesticides. Even if they are designed to have minimal impact on “non-target species”, even if they are a synthetic derivative of a compound normally found in garden plants, even if their dissemination will decrease adult mosquito populations and, therefore, decrease the risk of certain diseases. I still worry … about my kids, about the deer and the wild turkeys that roam in the woods behind my house, and most of all about the damned mosquitoes that survive the spraying and go on to spawn a new generation of perhaps- more-spray-resistant young mosquitoes. Reading AN AMERICAN PLAGUE did nothing to dampen these concerns.
As the subtitle claims, this book is terrifying. With a dexterous use of firsthand accounts, Murphy brings readers the sights, sounds and smells of Philadelphia in August of 1793, when a yellow fever epidemic gripped the city. Talk about history coming alive! Philadelphia’s sons and daughters leaped from the pages … some as heroes, others as cowards, some as survivors, others as victims … each compelling and urgent. This is riveting non-fiction and it is no wonder at all that the cover of this book sports so much silver and gold (a Newbery Honor medal, the National Book Award finalist medallion, and a Sibert medal!). Bravo, Jim Murphy.
This startling quote is taken from the last chapter:
“… despite years of research, there is still no cure for yellow fever. While modern medicines can lessen the impact the disease has on the human body, once a person has yellow fever, he or she will have to endure most of the horrible symptoms that Philadelphia’s people suffered in 1793.”
I won’t even describe the horrible symptoms to you. You will just have to get Jim Murphy’s book and read all about it yourself. Be forewarned, though … when you have finished the book you will start to worry about mosquitoes, the diseases they carry, and how little control we actually have over these bloodthirsty buggers. When this happens I invite you to come back here and worry with me. Believe it or not, it is mosquito week here. Stay tuned …