Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-09-06
TYPHUS STAMPED OUT
BY SANITARY MISSION
IN STRICKEN SERBIA

GRAFTON at our hands.
"Still another most important phase
of the work was the visiting of every
house almost in the entire kingdom and |
separating the diseased from the well. I
The quarantining of the infected per. I
sons was something which the local au.
thorities had not been able to under 4
take, but under our direction it was
quickly and thoroughly carried ont.
"While we were hard at work on this
determination of hyphus we also had
our eyes constantly on the lookout for
cholera and typhoid None OF the form. .
er was found, but the latter Yves abuud. /.
ant. Against this, and against the
former too we therefore prepared in our
own laboratories which we had estab. |
lished in the old Turkish town OF Uskub, T,
combined serum against cholera, ty-
phoid and paratyphoid This was pre-
pared in such manner thNt two in
iections were sufficient ana thus il was
possible to administer it TO both the
army and the civil population with
minimum of ilbor. For this task Of
vaccination we hal our own vrccinat-
ing ear which covered all the territory
that could be reached by raii, AMI we
also furnished the serum to che French
surgeons hete VINO undertook lis ad.
ministration in the army
'gn connection with this laboratory
work, we started from the very first en-
search for the typhus germ but rp 20
the present moment complete success
has not crowned our efforts. Tie organ
ism discovered by Dr. Plotz at Mt. sinai
hospital, New York, has not yet been
found here by Us, but with the aid Ct
cultures which he has ;aced at our
disposition complete sGccess may vet
crown this end of the work 1t is being
actively pushed by DE. Iinsscr of Colum.
bia and Dr. Sellayds If llavard.
Gone of the mort happy features of
the whole work was the manner in
which we ourselves, after the terrible
experiences Of the Serbian and Amer
lean Red Cross units, kept free flon the
disease. Not Que Of the ~ men com
prising our mission fell Il vicum. But
naturally we had at our disposition all
of the latest possible preventatives.
Every doctor assigned to hard work
amongst the victoms wore vermin
proof suit, rubber gloves and adhesive
bands above the wrists and ankles. We
have not been able to demonstrate that
the disease is contagious and in fact
there seems no reason to believe that
it is transmitted otherwise than by the
bite of infected vermin.
Checked In Montenegro.
"In Montenegro we were most fortu-
nate in being able to check the epidemic
before it could become general. DR..
Grinnell of Harvard, who was assigned
to that territory, arrived when the
disease had only got into the towns.
These were quickly quarantined and
the plague stamped out at once.
"Thus by the middle of August l
think / will be able to guarantee that
typhus will be thing of the past IN
Serbia. Not only that, but we would
be greatly disappointed if it ever came
again. But still even in this latter
case, Serbia now has at its disposition
all of the facilities necessary for
speedily combating any outbreak.
"Naturally our success was only pos
sible through the most hearty cooper
alton of every man composing the mis-
sion, and this has been one of the two
bright spots of the entire task. There
was not a man who ever shirked OF
even objected to any task assigned him
no matter how disagreeable or even how
: dangerous it might be.
"The other bright spot which stands
out most wildly was the unfailing kind
ness of Sir Thomas Upton to the mem
bers of the mission. Not only did he
cheer us up with words at every moment
when cheer was most needed but his un
ending efforts to furnish the members
of the mission with little odds and eno'
for their material comfort gave evidence
of a kindly consideration Of others such
as / have never before met.
Serbia Is Regenerated.
Gas result of our four months
work here, ! think can safely say that
Serbia is a regenerated nation from q
sanitary point Of view and the effects
of this I feel certain will be reflected
in her national life and development
or years to come