Pandemics, Epidemics, and Other Diseases in Louisiana

Yellow fever was a constant threat to the people living in Louisiana and the Mississippi River Valley due to the region's high humidity and heat, leading to an abundance of disease-carrying mosquitos. While some would get sick every year, Louisiana faced several large-scale outbreaks of yellow fever. These major outbreaks include the years of 1853, 1867, 1878, and 1905. 

In 1879 Rudolph Matas and Dr. Stanford Chaille visited Cuba in search of the cause of yellow fever and took photomicrographs of autopsy tissues, later used to identify mosquitos as the root cause of yellow fever. It was only after this discovery of mosquitos being the carriers, that New Orleans begun to close the water cisterns around the city and replace them with underground water pipes. 

Listed below are some recommended catalog key terms for searching for yellow fever. Full steps on how to use these key terms can be found on this LibGuide's homepage.

Saffron scourage
Yellow fever
Yellow jack

Listed below are some recommended subject headings for searching for yellow fever. Full steps on how to use these key terms can be found on this LibGuide's homepage.

Diseases -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Epidemics -- Louisiana
Medical care -- Louisiana
Yellow fever
Yellow fever -- history.
Yellow fever -- Louisiana
Yellow fever -- Louisiana -- New Orleans
Yellow fever -- Mississippi
Yellow fever -- Southern States.

LSU Libraries Special Collections holds a vast amount of books and manuscript materials that directly speak to the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi River Valley experience of yellow fever. A few of these collections are listed below. Additional collections may be found utilizing the key terms and subject headings listed in the sections above. 

Books and other published materials

Manuscript collections