Evening star., 1939-04-25
y. 5. MobiIizing
Resources TO Fight
Yellow Fever
Rockefeller Foundation
Hos Emergency Supply
OF Serum on Hand

Faced with the possibility Of a
new attack by dreaded yellow
Jack" brought in by airplanes from
South America. the United States
Is mobilizing its resources.
The Rockefeller Foundation dur
ing the last year has kept an emer-
gency supply of 10000 doses of
yellow fever vaccine this year for
possible use in the United States,
the National Institute of Health is
considering manufacturing more
vaccine In its laboratories here, and
the large drug houses are being
urged to lay in supplies.
In addition, the Public Health
Service is keeping a mobile unit,
which has been in training during
the year at Miami and at Key West,
Tor instant response if yellow fever
case is reported in United States
territory. 1t will go into action i'm
mediately against the aedes Aegyti
mosquito. the tropical insect which
carries the virus of the disease.
Revealed at Meeting.
These precautions were revealed
TO the State and provincial health
omcers Of the United States, meet
ing today at the Public Health
Service, by Dr. Felix j. Underwood,
chairman Of the organizations Yel-
low Fever Committee.
Systematic SURVEYS are being car
ried out at Southern airplane land
ing ports, DR.. Underwood said. Thus
lar very few mosquitoes of the virus
bearing species have been found, he
said, but the price of safety against
one OF the greatest scourges of the
ages is constant vigilance.
Meanwhile the frontier of the
United States against this dreaded
enemy has been moved to the edge
OF the South American jungles. The
Rockefeller Foundation is carving
the brunt of the battle. During the
past year, DR.. Underwood said, more
than million persons have been
Vacclnated in the yellow fever area.
The virus is carried by mosquitoes
from man to man. The fewer South
Americans who can be infected by
1t the less chance of a passenger
boarding an airplane bound for
the United States to carry the germ.
Perhaps the most significant dis
covery during the year DR.. Under
wood said, is that two hitherto un-
suspected varieties of mosquitoes,
found chiefly in the jungles, carry
the germ. They will give monkeys
the disease by biting them, or it
can be produced by injecting in the
animals a ground up preparation of
the bodies Of the insects.
Catches Fever Accidentally.
The great danger to South Amer
lean cities as well as TO the United
States. it was stressed, lies with
some unknown animal of the great,
swampy forests. Although the mon
key and man are both susceptible
the investigators now are convinced,
DR.. Underwood said, that no simian
serves as a resevour of the disease.
He only catches it accidentally, as
does man.
In the Gulf States. DR. Underwood
said, it has just been found that
the chief offender, the Aedes aegyu
mosquito, can be captured every
month in the year, but they increase
the possibly dangerous proportion
during August, September and Oc-
tOber. 1t was also found that 200
miles away from the Gulf Coast the
adult mosquitoes rarely can be cap
tured except during the last week
OF August and the first weeks in Oc-
tober. These dates indicate the
critical times in the possible yellow
fever peril in these localities.
Americas bill for cosmetics and
proprietary medicines now has
reached the grand total of a billion
a year, DR.. K. E. Miller, medical ad-
wiser of the Federal Trade Commits
sion. told the health officers. OF
this, he said s4O000O,OO0 goes for
beauty aids, such as cosmetics, per-
fumes and dentifrices, while at least
half billion goes for drug store
medicines.