To combat the threat of tropical diseases such as malaria
and yellow fever, the United States decided to use new measures to eradicate
the disease before the construction of the Panama Canal. Under the leadership of Colonel William
Crawford Gorgas, many changes were made.
When it was discovered that mosquitoes were the source of the disease,
Gorgas who was appointed as the head of hospital and sanitation, he made sure
that containers with stagnant water were removed because mosquitoes lay their
eggs there. He also built domestic water
systems to eliminate the need to collect rain water. Prophylactic Quinine was supplied to the
people in the area and fumigation and oiling of streams were launched. Those who were sick were quarantined and workers
would sleep in screened structures so that mosquitoes would not be able to bite
them. These programs resulted in the
successful elimination of tropical diseases in the area and the health of
workers improved.
