Library Fever

Creepy

“Resilient” should be carved in stone above the door of the New York Society Library.  Its first 40 years saw more action than most cities see in a lifetime.  But there is a limit to how much a library can take.  The Society Library’s limit came in 1803 when librarian Jonathon Forbes closed the doors to all subscribers for three months.  

Closing the library seems like a radical move and three months is a lifetime when you’re waiting to get your hands on the latest bestseller.  What could have caused Forbes to take such radical action, to deny his patrons access to intellectual stimulation and fellowship ?  The words would strike fear in the hearts of all who heard them in the 1800s, especially those in the close living quarters of big cities...  

Yellow Fever.

Yellow Fever was a horrific virus that spread through cities in North America in waves.  Thousands of citizens in Philadelphia suffered and died after a major epidemic in 1793.  George Washington and his colleagues, who had recently moved the Federal Government to Philly, were so alarmed by the outbreak that they fled the city and headed for their estates (imagine the media coverage that brave move would have garnered today).  

When New York heard the reports of thousands of citizens dying from a plague that turned its victims a shade of yellow (caused by jaundice) and weakened them with bouts of vomiting black bile until they expired, they rushed to shut  ports and set up quarantines.  Sadly, viruses have a way of getting around quarantines, and the summers of 1795, 1799 and 1803 hit New Yorkers hard.  The 1803 epidemic was so severe that it led to the establishment of the first NY Board of Health.  But preventing large scale epidemics was a new challenge for America, it’s hard to protect your citizens when you don’t know the enemy.  The Board of Health did their best to react to each outbreak but little to prevent new epidemics or to discover the causes of the horrendous illness.  John Pintard, a trustee of the Society Library, became the first City Health Inspector, which may have led to Forbes decision to temporarily close the library.

Little did anyone know that Yellow Fever was (and still is) a virus spread by mosquitoes.  It can not be passed from one human to another.  Avoiding mosquitoes is the most effective way to prevent the virus.  It wasn’t until the late 1800s that doctors and scientists finally figured out the culprit and it took until 1900 for Walter Reed and the Reed Commission to prove that the vector was the ubiquitous mosquito.  Meanwhile, New York City continued to suffer.

More than 100,000 people died from Yellow Fever outbreaks in North America, which seems like a huge number until you learn that 200,000 people in Africa and Latin America continue to contract Yellow Fever today, leading to 30,000 deaths each year.  According to the World Health Organization, Yellow Fever infections have increased over the past 20 years due to declining immunity in the population which is more transient than ever.  This shocking trend is more disturbing because of the availability of a low cost vaccine.  

The WHO operates the Yellow Fever Initiative in Africa, where the most outbreaks have been reported.  Their recommendations include infant vaccinations and mass vaccination in response to reported cases.  

So, as it turns out, Jonathan Fobes didn’t need to close the library...all he had to do was close the window.  But in Africa they aren’t that lucky.