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Show 1 How Science Has Found a Startling V ' ' Hgg Lifenew fieftmn Oe Germs of the ' 1 fellpi ' fSPDlP Appalling Disease as It Appears in I fWSM WSBfe ' "ean am American Cities, and ' Mm M 1- " As It Has Thrived m Mongolian Slums fSkrW. I A P lj Beggar Class Type of Mancliurians Who Live in a Condition of Frightful Uncleanness ' M S&f- JT feSfew'IP and Facilitate the Spread of Every Epidemic. j X ' gp By James 'Joseph King, A. B., M. D. Section 01 Lun&' Showine Plae sacim. Tll? T.rbagan Flea, Greatl Magnified" j III Captain Medical C IIJ A COMPARISON of the epidemic of tho dis- jgtt A- ease known "Spanish Influenza," with B' the epidemic of pneumonic plague that Ml broke out in Harbin, China, in October, 1910, anil JjJI spread continuously throughout northern China ! Rt the time, reveals so many points of similarity al Bs stror,Sly to suggest that the disease which bo- Mm came epidemic this fall may be tho same 'malady, hTH but modified by racial and topographical d.iffer' ; li ences, that ravaged northern China jJlght ycar . w ago. The origin of the' influenza plague v?as sug-- gffi gested to the writer soon after its outbreak in Bl our camps, by Mr. Guy M. "Walker, an. eminent S'l American authority on Chinese affairs. This sug- njH gestion led to an investigation of the reports of flu the pneumonic plague in China and there is suf- llll flcient likeness of that disease to tho so-called till Spanish Influenza as to warrant a consideration ml of it. - n Pneumonia in Harbir: Ira The pneumonic plague first appeared in Har- blK, a town in Manchuria under Chinese control. Ijjlf Harbin is on the Trans-Siberian Railroad and was HI the original hotbed of the disease. The plaguo j had prevailed in Russia, previous to November, jjii 1910, but the Russians, alert to Its danger, took jt fcnmediate action and stamped it out. It was be- iff lieved that the. plague was carried into Harbin y by the fur dealers, tho furs themselves, and by Irm Chinese laborers returning to their homes to ccle- lrl brate New Year's Day( a custom universally ob- llll served In China. From Harbin the plague rapidly III spread in all directions, usually' following the lines S of traffic along the railroads, flail t spread as far south as Chelu, a seaport town, Mu probably having been carried there by Chinese lt coolies returning from the north. Ms By Jan. 24, 1911, 1500 Chinese and 27 Eu- llal ropeans, two of whom wero physicians, and an Ml assistant had died of It; in fact, nearly all who had the disease perished of it. 6j The Spread in China Iwl The plague had been very serious, the mor- j tality being fearfully high. This malady has Ml spread throughout China. Wherever Chinese HI coolies from the north have travelled they have carried this disease. From 1910 up to 1917 China pi has not been free from it., Tho writer hoard of several cases being present in Pekin last year. M In the early part of 1917 about 200,000 Chinese coolies collected from tho northern part of China 'HI where the pneumonic plague has raged at Inter-rill Inter-rill vals since 1910, were sent to France as luborers. ill Part 0t lbem Were sent nroun(1 through the Medl- 01 terranean; some, and perhaps the majority, were jell sent acrosB the Pacific and then through Canada Wm ' and America to be transported across the Atlantic lam to France. Entire tralnloads of these coolies fwjl were carried across the United States to the port jflH of New York and thence to France. mft The photograph showing tho boatloads of the m II coolies at Woihciwel ready far embarkation to ij (I France via Pacific, Canada, America and Atlantic. H j were taken by Mr. L, P. Frieder. jllll Coolies Carrying the Plagut MjM ' The coolies made splendid laborers in France I and were in back of the lines during the German III v drive of March, WIS. No doubt many of them II I were captured by the Germans at that time. Hence If J tho outbreak of the disease In the German army i j and its rapid spread to Spain, will So far as medical science "knows today this dis- HI ease first broke out last spring in the German Eli army where it was said to have been very serious Ml Next it was heard of in Spnin, hence tho namo orps, U. S. Army 1 Spanish Influenza. Tho name is really a misnomer, mis-nomer, but it has stuck, probably because it was Ihc first epidemic of lnfluenzn that Spain over had. Since our soldiers and sailors have been returning from the battlofields of France It has become very prevalent and serious In our camps and cities all over the couniry. After this brief revlow of the pneumonic plaguo nnd the narration of its possible connection with the-presoni ephlgmlq it Is of interest to comparp the clinical and.bacterlologlqa.l-ns'ootB.'bfvthe" mal- ?' I .'!;, The Symptoms in Chine 1.1 Js not nccesavy b$r;to jnto dgtail. con ccrning the clinical data except in a very gcriera way. In the Chinese epidemic there wero few definite symptoms at the outset of the disease except ex-cept the general malaise, prostration, loss of appetite, ap-petite, ofc, soc-n to bo followed by the pneumonic process and death. So "it is in tho present epidemic. epi-demic. There have been indpflnlto symptoms with great prostration rapidly followed by pneumonia pneu-monia and death In the most virulent forms. Tho outstandingfeaturos of the Chinese pneumonic phgue were its high inactivity and high mortal 1-ly. 1-ly. So this io-callod Influonza epidemic which is more contagious, is followed more frequently by pneumonia and attended with higher mortality than in any previous influenza epidemic. In the pneumonic plague epidemic of China Aslorirhii-o Evidence of the Manner in l : W 'Wi fir '' ' .7 ; Section of. .Kiciney snowing rresence of Large Number of Bacilli. the bacillus pestis was almost constantly found associated with the pacumococciia and the streptococcus. strep-tococcus. These organimns wc-re found in different dif-ferent localities whero tho plague iras prevalent. The virulo.nce of the disease likewise varied. For instance. Dr. Shibayama made a report $n eight different strains of pneumonic plaguo organisms Which Chinese Coolies, Often Infected Yy Di mis ureauiro is ureaited witn uan-ying tho Gccms of Chinese Influenza. 'pf"y the Intf'rnn!lonal PJaguc conference held hi Mukdeu in April. 1911. Tho bacicria found in patient? in the influenzp epidemic have teen the Influenza bacillus asso minted with tho four groups of pneumococct. the c-tnrt'roccus hemolyticus and the micrococcus raiarralfo. For instance, in one camp tho organ isms found wore, tho influe'nza bacillus associated w'th group 1 pnouniocoecus: in another it was the 'luenzn bacillus associated with group 3 pneu- " orry in another influenza and streptococcus ' ''olvte. o?c. ,Wr pithercCorp. how diffevent strains oIthe pneumocbccu-5 r.ud strep'tococsus associated with a bacillus we,-e.tbe exciting causes of the epidemic .hi different localities. .Likewise, the mortally and vimlcnco of the disease has varied in "d:f-feren "d:f-feren locnlitie?. Similarity in the Two Plagues Yhus we have shown a striking similarity between be-tween the pnoumonic plaguo of north China and tho so-called Spanish infiuo.iza epidemic. It is hot unreasonable to believe that tho two diseases may bo the same. The influenza bacillus and the bacillus bacil-lus pestis in atypical forms may simulate each other. Wo know that organisms may assume different dif-ferent forms and have different cultural characteristics charac-teristics under different conditions. The ordinary influenza bacillus is a short slender slen-der bacillus. The bacillus postls is abouLlhe same seasc, Are Sirrrsd fro '-insc Ports. Q 1 0. The Tarhagan, or Marmot, of the Squirrel Family, Used as Food in China, and Regarded Re-garded as Resppnsible for Many Cases of Plague. length, but Is generally a fatter, broader baclllU3 Doth are Gram Negative. It seems possible that the bacillus pestis may have been present in a non-virulent state in tho Chinese coolies and assumed new virulence, vigor and a somewhat different form when transplant nd into virgin soil. The high mortality and in-fectlvity in-fectlvity of this epidemic strongly suggest it- ( On this basis the epidemics which have fol lowed all great wars may be explained. If a nation na-tion or trite can survive any disease long enough v it will acquire immunity to that disease. When. however, foreign people comminglo freely and in-timalely in-timalely as in war, epidemic will break out. The Viactive, non-virulent organisms in one race will become virulent In some other race which has not . acquired Immunity to that specific organism. 1 |