1870s Yellow Fever In Memphis

The 1870s Yellow Fever Epidemics in Memphis

Yellow fever originated in West Africa and was believed to be transported by slave ships although no one really knows. Being an African born disease, it thrives in hot wet weather typically where mosquitos breed. Sky high fever, pounding headache, cramping muscle aches, particularly in your back and knees, sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dizziness, red eyes. These are all symptoms of the unforgiveable Yellow Fever. Memphis hasn’t always been a go to place for tourists and the occasional vacationer. During the 1780’s, Memphis used to be very swampy and known at one time as the most fowl smelling city on Earth. The city had open sewers scattered across the landscape which added to the unpleasant odor and provided the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. The deadly yellow fever didn’t start in Memphis though. The first place to be infected happen to be the New York-Philadelphia area. The disease didn’t make its way south until 1828. New Orleans was the first southern city to be plagued with the Yellow Fever and it

The disease worked its way up from New Orleans infecting and killing many on its way. When it finally arrived to Memphis, the entire city was going through reconstruction and was becoming the epicenter of tourists and merchants trying to make a living. Memphis soon became increasingly over populated only feeding the monster and increasing the devastation that would be caused by the yellow fever. This was a confusing period for everyone including doctors and other medical professionals. They couldn’t distinguish where the disease came from or how they could extinguish the fire that was too big to stop it. The epidemic caused panic and challenged the state and local governments of Tennessee to an all-time high and force them to establish changes to it that are still in effect