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William C. Gorgas and the Construction of the Panama Canal
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William C. Gorgas and the Construction of the Panama Canal
The Road to Panama
The United States Takes Control
Early Life
- In the early 1800's the French attempted to build a canal.
- Yellow fever and malaria killed over 20,000 workers
- An infested and unbearable construction site
- Lots of money wasted on minimal progress
- 1902 U.S. bought rights to French Canal Property
- Began work on a 51 mile waterway through the Isthmus of Panama
- In 1904 William Gorgas became Chief Medical Officer of Panama.
- Task: Prevent laborers from contracting YF and malaria.
- Born in Toulminville, Alabama in 1854
- Attended college and medical school in America
- In 1880 joined the Army Medical Corps and remained active for 20 years until he became stationed in Fort Brown, Texas.
- In Texas, Gorgas helped treat patients infected with yellow fever.
- He and his wife eventually contracted the disease as well. Therefore they decided to relocate to Cuba to take action against the disease.
- Appointed Chief Medical Officer in Havana, Cuba
- Task: to handle and control the malaria and yellow fever epidemics.
- Carlos Finlay and Walter Reed
- Gorgas supported their proof
- Yellow Fever- aedes aegypti
- Malaria- female anopheles
- By 1901 William had eradicated the mosquitoes and the disease from Havana.
Please Mr. Roosevelt...
No More Mosquitoes!
William Gorgas: Man of the Hour
- Needed financial and political help
- In 1904, Gorgas went to D.C. with a $1 million proposal to fumigate Isthmus
- Officials said no, believed diseases were airborne or came from soil.
- 1st major YF hit came along with heavy rain
- Adam Lambert
- U.S. granted $20 million towards plan
- Sanitation efforts began
- Needed to raise awareness
- Plan provided free medical care and burial services for workers
- Efforts:
- Drained or covered with kerosene all stagnant water, sprayed pesticides, fumigated infested areas, cleared out jungle, isolated the ill, created domesticated water supply systems etc..
- One of the greatest sanitation efforts in history
- By 1906 Gorgas had eradicated yellow fever, and contained malaria in Panama
- Construction on canal boomed due to a disease free labor force
- On August 15th, 1914 the canal was complete
- 25,000 people died during the building of the canal, 20,000 of those died of disease
- "Sanitation in Panama"
- helped spread information about the control of diseases
- Promoted to Surgeon General of the U.S. Army in 1914
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