In November, 1900, Camp Lazear was established one mile from Quemados and placed under strict quarantine. At this experimental station Private John R. Kissinger permitted himself to be bitten and promptly developed the first case of controlled experimental yellow fever. This case has been deemed as important to medical science as Robert Koch's discovery of the tubercle bacillus and the development of the diphtheria anti-toxin. Kissinger and John J. Moran had volunteered on condition that they would receive no gratuities, performing their service "solely in the interest of science and the cause of humanity."
Jesse W. Lazear (1866-1900)
Then, in order to prove the theory for all time and to destroy the fomite myth, two specially constructed buildings were erected in Camp Lazear. Building Number One, or the "Infected Clothing Building," was composed of one room, 14 x 20 feet heated by a stove to ninety-five degrees. For twenty nights Dr. Robert P. Cooke and Privates Folk and Jernegan hung offensive clothing and beefing around the walls. They slept on sheets and pillows befouled by the blood and vomit of yellow fever victims. Not one of the volunteers contracted the disease. On December 19, 1900, they were relieved by Privates Hanberry and England who, in turn, were finally relieved by Privates Hildebrand and Andrus. From November 30, 1900 to January 10, 1901 the experiment ran to completion, disproving the fomite theory of transmission and thereby demonstrating the uselessness of destroying the personal effects of yellow fever victims, thus saving thousands of dollars in property.
The first volunteer at Camp Lazear was Private John R. Kissinger. Kissinger, an Ohioan from Trubys hospital corps, developed yellow fever on December 8, 1900, after being bitten by several infected mosquitoes. He recovered ten days later, but the disease left permanent damage. He was granted a disability discharge the following year. In 1910, Congress rewarded Kissinger with a $100 per month pension for his services (Photo in Hench-Reed Collection, CMHSL, UVA).
The second building was similarly constructed and was called the "Infected Mosquito Building." It was divided into two parts separated by a screen with screens on the windows as well. Mr. John Moran, a clerk in General Fitzhugh Lee's office, was bitten by fifteen infected mosquitoes, developed the fever and recovered. The other volunteers who were separated, and thereby protected by the screen, escaped infection. Ten cases were produced in this manner.
Mr. John J. Moran, a civilian clerk in General Fitzhugh Lees headquarters, was bitten just six days after Kissinger, but he did not develop yellow fever. Moran later volunteered to be confined in Camp Lazears "Infected Mosquito Building." There he was bitten repeatedly by fifteen contaminated mosquitoes. On Christmas Day, 1900, he fell ill with yellow fever. Moran survived. Forty years later he assisted Dr. Philip S. Hench in his search for the actual site of Camp Lazear (Photo in Hench-Reed Collection, CMHSL, UVA).
Yellow fever was produced in the bodies of twelve more American and Spanish volunteers either by direct mosquito bites or by injections of infected blood or blood serum. These injections proved that the specific agent of yellow fever is in the blood and that passage through the body of a mosquito is not necessary to its development.
Dr. Philip S. Hench with Mr. John J. Moran (right) at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, January 1944. Moran was one of several volunteers to be bitten by infected Aedes mosquitoes at Camp Lazear (Hench-Reed Collection, CMHSL, UVA).
The courage of the volunteers is inestimable. A unique honor helps keep alive the memory of the twenty-four gallant men who participated in this experiment. In 1929 Congress awarded a special gold medal to each man or his next of kin. Had it not been for Major Reed's fair and thoroughly scientific approach to the problem and misconceptions concerning the disease, especially the whole contagion theory, yellow fever might have continued for years. As a result of the Yellow Fever Board's success, Colonel William Crawford Gorgas, then Chief Sanitary Officer for the Department of Cuba, rid the island of this longtime pestilence. Realizing that the mosquitoes never stray far from human dwelling places in order to get their meals of blood necessary for them to lay their eggs, Colonel Gorgas organized inspection parties to check all homes in Havana for possible breeding places, insuring that the only standing water in the homes was needed for family use and properly screened. All other water receptacles were to be emptied. Later he applied the same techniques in the Canal Zone, freeing it of fever, permitting the United States to complete the Panama Canal so vital for commerce and deployment of the Pacific fleet. Thus the menace which had struck the United States every year since 1648, from Pensacola to Nantucket Island, was eradicated. There would be no more epidemics such as that in Memphis in 1878 which cost the country one hundred million dollars.
Hospital Corps Detachment at Camp Columbia, Havana, September 1900. Most of the volunteers for the yellow fever experiments came from this unit. Lt. Albert E. Truby, unit commander, is seated in the front row, second from left (Hench-Reed Collection, CMHSL, UVA).
In February, 1901 Walter Reed returned to the United States where he was an instant success in medical circles. All through the acclaim he remained modest and reserved. His constant hope of doing something to relieve the suffering of mankind had been fulfilled; his dedication to duty, sound judgment, and thorough scientific methods was an inspiration to the deans of medical research.
"Conquerors of Yellow Fever"
In 1900, Major Walter Reed was given the responsibility of finding the cause of yellow fever and eliminating it. After many unsuccessful experiments, he decided to test an old but unproven theory that the disease was transmitted by mosquitos. Unfortunately, no animal was known to be susceptible to yellow fever at the time, so it was necessary to use human volunteers. In the painting, Dr. Lazear, who died a month later as a result of self-experimentation, is shown inoculating Dr. Carroll with an infected mosquito, The experiment proved conclusively that the mosquito was the carrier of yellow fever.
In the summer of 1901, Dr. Carroll proved that the specific agent of yellow fever was sub-microscopic and too small to be caught in the pores of the diatomaceous filter that retained bacteria. Thus the last key to the disease was found. Carroll had proved through a series of innoculations that a filterable virus could cause disease in man. The Board's discoveries were confirmed by the Board of Health of Havana and later a commission of the Pasteur Institute confirmed the agent's filterability. In 1927 it was found that certain species of monkeys were susceptible to the virus, thereby eliminating the need for human subjects. In 1937 a vaccine against yellow fever, called 17-D, was produced by scientists of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation. The use of this vaccine became routine in the United States Army in 1942. Since yellow fever is still endemic in the jungles of Central America and Africa where anti-mosquito measures are almost impossible, the fever still exists. A distinction is therefore made between "urban" yellow fever which is under control and the jungle variety which persists. As yet there is no cure for the disease, only innoculation against it.
Dr. Philip S. Hench with Walter Reed's wife, Ms. Emilie L. Reed (left), and daughter, Ms. Emilie "Blossom" Reed (right), examining Walter Reed's Congressional Medal, January 1942 (Hench-Reed Collection, CMHSL, UVA).
After his return to the United States in February, 1901, Dr. Reed served again as professor of pathology and bacteriology at the Columbian (George Washington) University Medical School and as professor of bacteriology in the Army Medical School (the present Walter Reed Army Institute of Research). In the summer of 1901 he was awarded two honorary degrees: a Master of Arts from Harvard University and a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Michigan. He was appointed librarian of the Surgeon General's library on November 1, 1902. His duties sapped his strength and, following an appendectomy, he died of peritonitis on November 23, 1902. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. On his simple monument is inscribed the following epitaph, taken from the remarks of President Eliot when Harvard University conferred the Master of Arts degree: "He gave to man control over that dreadful scourge, yellow fever."
Additional Sources: www.med.virginia.edu
wrair-www.army.mil
www.congressionalgoldmedal.com
www.personal.psu.edu
www.humanprint.com
Very interesting article, Sam and Snippy.
Walter Reed Army Base is one of the bases set to be closed. I find it sad that they would close such a historical base, yet wonder if it's so out-dated it is a good thing. What is your opinion?
Most pleasing to contemplate men who knew their duty and did it.
Thanks for telling their story. It should be taught in the second grade to all Americans.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on September 05:
1187 Louis VIII [Coeur-de-Lion] king of France (1223-26)
1638 Louis XIV the great, king of France (1643-1715)
1791 Giacomo Meyerbeer Vogelsdorf Germany, composer (Golt Und Die Natur)
1847 Jesse James Missouri, outlaw
1875 Napoleon "Larry" Lajoie RI, hall of fame shortstop (.426 in 1901)
1892 Joseph Szigeti Budapest Hungary, violinist (Violinist Notebook 1933)
1901 Florence Elridge actress (Long Days Journey into the Night)
1902 Darryl F Zanuck Hollywood producer & motion picture executive
1905 Arthur Koestler Hungary, writer (Darkness at Noon)
1908 Joaqu¡n Nin-Culmell Berlin, Germany, Cuban/Spanish composer
1912 John Cage LA, Calif, composer (Silence) & fraud
1914 Gail Kubik South Coffeyville, Okla, composer (Gerald McBoing Boing)
1917 Jack Buetel Dallas Tx, actress (The Outlaw, Half Breed)
1921 Jack Valenti Pres of Motion Picture Assn of America
1923 Arthur C Nielsen market researcher (TV's Nielsen's Ratings)
1927 Paul Volcker Federal Reserve chairman
1929 Andrian G Nikolayev USSR, cosmonaut (Vostok III Soyuz 9)
1929 Bob Newhart Oak Park Ill, comedian (Bob Newhart Show, Newhart)
1934 Carol Lawrence Illinois, dancer/actress (Dean Martin Summer Show)
1935 Werner Erhard Phila, founded EST
1937 William Devane Albany NY, actor (Family Plot, Missles of October)
1939 John Stewart San Diego Ca, rocker (Kingston Trio-Fire in the Wind)
1940 Raquel Welch Chic Ill actress/5 star babe(Myra Breckenridge, 1,000,000 BC, 100 Rifles)
1942 Eduardo Mata Mexico City Mexico, conductor (Improvisaciones)
1945 Al Stewart Glasgow Scotland, rocker (The Year of the Cat)
1946 Freddie Mercury rock vocalist (Queen-We are the Champions)
1950 Cathy Guisewite cartoonist (Cathy)
1952 Graham Salmon blind runner (fastest 100m by a blind man)
1956 Steve Denton world's fastest tennis serve-138 mph)
1960 Willie Gault bob sledder/NFL receiver (Chicago Bears, LA Raiders)
1964 Kristian Alfonso actress (Days of our Lives, Falcon Crest)
1965 Christopher Nolan Ireland, handicapped writer (Under Eye of Clock)
1967 Michele Ebadi Omaha Nebraska, Miss Nebraska-America (1991)
1969 Dweezil Zappa rocker/son of Frank Zappa/MTV VJ
Deaths which occurred on September 05:
1548 Catharine Parr (36), queen of England and last wife of Henry VIII, died
1566 Suleiman I, the Great Law Giver, sultan of Turkey
(1520-66), dies
1683 Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French Minister of Navy, dies
1859 W Friedrich Olivier, German landscape painter, dies
1877 Crazy Horse, [Tashunka Witko], last great Sioux war chief, dies
1969 Mitchell Ayres orch leader (Hollywood Palace), dies at 58
1980 Barbara Loden actress (Ernie Kovacs Show), dies at 48
1981 Ayatollah Ali Qoddusi prosecutor-general of Iran, assassinated
1995 James "Pigmeat" Jarrett, pianist, dies at 95
1997 Hungarian-born conductor Sir George Solti (b.1912) dies at age 84
1997 Mother Teresa (Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) (b.1910),dies of heart failure in Calcutta.
Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
05-Sep-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Private 1st Class Ryan Michael McCauley Baghdad (Sadr City) Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Gary A. Vaillant Khaldiyah (nr. Fallujah) - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Charles R. Lamb Log. Base Seitz (W. of Baghdad) Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack
US Sergeant Shawna M. Morrison Log. Base Seitz (W. of Baghdad) Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack
Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY
http://icasualties.org/oif/ Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php
On this day...
1519 2nd Battle of Tehuacingo, Mexico: Hernan Cortes vs Tlascala Aztecs
1622 Richelieu becomes Cardinal
1666 The Fire of London is extinguished after two days.
1774 1st Continental Congress assembles, in Philadelphia
1778 Gideon Olmstead and 3 fellow Americans take over the British sloop Active and sail it toward the New Jersey coast, where it was intercepted by the American brig Convention, owned by the state of Pennsylvania. A state court ruled the sloop a prize of the state. An appeals committee overturned the Philadelphia court. Olmstead spent the next 30 years fighting for his claim and won in 1808
1781 Battle of Virginia Capes, French defeat British, traps Cornwallis
1804 In a daring night raid, American sailors under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, board the captured USS Philadelphia and burn the ship to keep it out of the hands of the Barbary pirates who captured her.
1836 Sam Houston elected president of the Republic of Texas
1867 The first shipment of cattle leaves Abilene, Kansas, on a Union Pacific train headed to Chicago.
1862 Lee crosses the Potomac & enters Maryland
1867 The first shipment of cattle left Abilene, Kansas, on a Union Pacific train headed to Chicago
1877 Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas
1878 Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman and Clay Allison, four of the West's most famous gunmen, met in Dodge City, Kansas
1882 10,000 workers march in 1st Labor Day parade in NYC
1884 The Merritt brothers discover Iron ore in Minnesota's Mesabi Range (the largest deposit of iron ore in the world)
1885 1st gasoline pump is delivered to a gasoline dealer (Ft Wayne, Ind)
1900 France proclaims a protectorate over Chad
1901 National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues formed
1905 Treaty of Portsmouth USA, ends Russo-Japanese War
1906 1st legal forward pass (Brandbury Robinson to Jack Schneider)
1914 George Herman "Babe" Ruth hit his first minor league home run at Hanlan's Point Stadium in Toronto.
1914 Battle of Marne (WW I) begins
1918 Due to WW I, 15th World Series begins a month early
1922 Yankees final game at the Polo Grounds, after 7 years
1923 Flyweights Gene LaRue & Kid Pancho KO each other simultaneously
1925 112ø F, Centerville, Alabama (state record)
1927 Red Sox beat Yankees 12-11 in 18 innings
1936 Red Sox turn a triple-play on the Yankees
1944 Allies liberate Brussels
1944 "Mad Tuesday" 65,000 Dutch nazi collaborators flee to Germany
1946 Joe Garagiola plays his 1st major league baseball game
1953 1st privately operated atomic reactor-Raleigh NC
1956 20 die in a train crash in Springer NM
1957 "On the Road" by author Jack Kerouac was first published.
1958 "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak published in the US
1958 1st color video recording on magnetic tape presented, Charlotte NC
1960 Cassius Clay captures the olympic light heavyweight gold medal
1960 President Kasavubu fires PremierLumumba of Congo
1961 President Kennedy signs law against hijacking (death penalty)
1968 21 killed by hijackers aboard a Pan Am jet in Karachi Pakistan
1970 Estimated 6" of rainfall, Bug Point, Utah (state record)
1971 NY Mets Don Hahn hits 1st inside the park homer at Phillies Vet
1972 11 Israeli athletes are slain at Munich Olympics
1972 Chemical spill with fog sickens hundreds in Meuse Valley Belgium
1975 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempts to assassinate Ford in Sacramento
1975 Wings release "Letting Go"
1977 Cleveland Indians stage 1st "I hate the Yankee Hanky Night"
1977 Voyager 1 (US) launched toward fly-by of Jupiter, Saturn
1978 Sadat, Begin & Carter began peace conference at Camp David, Md
1979 Earl of Mountbatten funeral held in Bruma
1980 World's longest auto tunnel, St Gotthard in Swiss Alps, opens
1982 Eddie Hill sets propeller-driven boat water speed record of 229 mph
1983 8th Space Shuttle Mission-Challenger 3-lands at Edwards AFB
1983 Elmer Trettr sets record for highest terminal velocity at 201.34 mph end of a 440 yard motorcycle run from a standing start
1984 12th Space Shuttle Mission (41-D) -Discovery 1- lands at Edwards AFB
1988 Jerry Lewis' 23rd Labor Day telethon raises record $41,132,113
1988 CFL's Earl Winfield (Ham) scores TDs on 101-yd punt return, 100-yd kickoff return & 58-yd pass reception
1989 Deborah Norville becomes news anchor of the Today Show
1990 Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein urges Arabs to rise against the West
1991 Actor John Travolta weds Kelly Preston
1991 US trial of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega begins
1994 U.N.-sponsored population conference opened in Cairo, Egypt, Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland lashes out at the Vatican and at Muslim fundamentalists by defending abortion rights and sex education.
1996 Computer scientists discover the largest known prime number while testing a Cray T94 computer system. 378,632 digits and can be expressed as two to the 1,257,787th power minus 1.
1996 Astronomers using the Hubble space telescope discovered a galaxy under construction. They say 18 gigantic star clusters were packed within a space just 2 million light years across and apparently on the verge of forming a brand new galaxy. Light from the event originated 11 billion years ago.
2002 Illinois Judge Harold Frobish of Livingston County rules that prison inmates can choose to starve themselves rather than endure years of solitary confinement and that right outweighs the state's duty to keep them alive.
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Iran : Iman Ali Day
Namibia, South Africa : Settlers' Day ( Monday )
Swaziland Independence Day (Britain 1968) or Somhlolo/The National Holiday of Swaziland.
US, Canada, Guam, Virgin Islands : Labor Day (1894)
Kiss a Bald Head Week (Day 2)
Mental Health Workers Week
Cable Television Month.
Religious Observances
Buddhist-Laos : Buddhist Holiday
Christian : St Laurence Justinian, bishop of Venice, confessor
Feast of St. Onesiphorus, martyr.
Feast of St. Zachariah, minor prophet of the Old Testament.
Religious History
1692 At Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Colonial clergyman Increase Mather, 53, received the first Doctor of Sacred Theology (STD) degree to be awarded in America.
1810 The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formally organized by the Congregational churches of New England at Farmington, Connecticut.
1870 Three Roman Catholic universities were founded in the United States on this exact same date: St. John's in New York City, Loyola in Chicago, and Canisius in Buffalo, New York.
1888 American baseball player-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, 26, married Helen Thompson, 20. In later years she became affectionately known as "Ma Sunday," and became his evangelistic campaign advisor. She survived Billy (d.1935) by 22 years.
1950 Baptist Bible College was founded in Springfield, MO, under auspices of the Baptist Bible Fellowship. With an enrollment of over 2,000, it is today one of the largest Bible colleges in America.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Man becomes world belly-flop champion
September 05, 2005
YOU need a tough backside and points are awarded for hiding your pain when you flop into the water - welcome to the weird world of 'dive-bombing'.
The event in a swimming pool in the western German town of Heilbronn actually only attracted competitors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, although organisers are convinced the 'sport' is spreading fast.
Unlike Olympic diving, in which medals are awarded for slicing through the surface without so much as a ripple, the name of the game in dive-bombing is to make as much noise and spray as possible when you hit the water.
"The kids here are freaks. Dive-bombing is an extreme sport," said the man who dreamed up the world championships, 36-year-old Oliver Schill.
Competitors had three attempts from the 10-metre board, including one classic backside-first dive and two 'freestyle' attempts.
It looked painful - and it was.
The winner was Simon Gfeller from the Swiss town of Muensingen who produced a dive comprising four turns and then a spectacular landing on his face - he won extra points from the judges for hiding his discomfort.
A German dive-bombing coach, Helmut Huenerfauth, is convinced the new sport is here to stay.
"All over the place there are groups of people getting together who just want to get their backsides flayed," he said.
Thought for the day :
"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."
Mother Teresa