Fifteen weeks to control a deadly smallpox outbreak.
"1946::Smallpox Arrives on the Pacific Coast Aboard the USS Hermitage" Photo Clip: Public Domain
On February 5, 1946, two American Navy ships, the USS Hermitage and USS Haskell, arrived in Seattle, Washington. They had sailed across the Pacific from Japan with thousands of veteran troops on board, all anxious to return home from war. Before the troops could disembark, however, Port Authorities performed their routine inspection and discovered three very sick soldiers on board. They immediately quarantined the ships and brought in the Health Authorities for advice. Upon examination, the soldiers who were thought to have typhus had merely a bad fever, but for the soldier with smallpox, the threat was very real. The infected soldier was removed from the ship and sent to the base infirmary. The ship's captain had done his best to protect the other soldiers from an outbreak, having sailed hundreds of miles off course to Pearl Harbour, where he was given enough supplies to vaccinate his 6,800 passengers and crew before continuing to Seattle. His quick decision to vaccinate all on board satisfied the Health Authorities, and after 20 hours of quarantine, the troops were free to disembark. It was a decision they would soon regret.
"1946::The Smallpox Outbreak Begins" Clip: The Seattle Star Seattle, Washington
The infected soldier was taken to the hospital at Fort Lawton, where its military staff and patients were vaccinated before his arrival. However, a few days later, a female patient who unknowingly came in contact with the infected soldier was innocently transferred to a civilian hospital for additional care. She died within weeks, and the civilian hospital was closed and quarantined due to a massive smallpox contamination that she had spread to its patients and staff.
"1946::Seattlers Line Up to be Vaccinated"
Clip: Spokane Chronicle (1946)
Spokane, Washington
By the end of March, the outbreak had reached epidemic proportions, and a State of Emergency was declared. Thousands lined up at Seattle's health clinics to be vaccinated, but the supply was quickly exhausted, and hundreds were turned away. As the state of Washington struggled to curb the outbreak, an emergency supply of vaccines arrived from the East Coast.
"1946::State of Emergency Declared"
Clip: The Bellingham Herald (1946) Bellingham, Washington
Portland, Oregon, had also responded to Seattle's cry for help by sending its own emergency supply of vaccines. However, when smallpox cases began appearing in its neighbouring cities, they soon realized it was time to start their own vaccination process. The declared State of Emergency was quickly expanded to include the entire length of the Pacific Coast between Mexico and Alaska.
"1946::Victorians Line Up at Pandora Avenue Health Centre to Get Vaccinated"
Photo Clip: Times Colonist (1946) Victoria, British Columbia
As the smallpox outbreak escalated south of the border, Vancouver Islanders were urged to get vaccinated, especially since the State of Washington failed to quarantine Seattle while trying to contain the situation. Incoming and outgoing passenger ferries and commercial shipments between the international ports had been carrying on with business as usual, putting citizens at risk of infection. However, when the coastal State of Emergency was declared, British Columbia's health authorities issued a quarantine order on all vessels arriving in the province by air or sea. They also closed the British Columbia-Washington border to the unvaccinated and anyone without proof of vaccination. And yet, although the province had ordered 250,000 vaccines for its citizens, the lineup at Victoria's Health Clinic on Pandora Avenue was greater than the city's supply on this particular day. Hundreds were turned away.
"1946::Fifteen Weeks Later"
Photo Clip: Times Colonist (1946)Victoria, British Columbia
After fifteen weeks of madness, the smallpox epidemic of 1946 came to an end. Nearly 400,000 British Columbians had rushed to protect themselves with a shield of vaccination, warding off any chance the smallpox virus had to spread. Almost the same number of citizens were vaccinated in the State of Washington. In the final review of the outbreak, a total of 68 smallpox cases had been recorded, with 20 deaths and 41 survivors showing scars resulting from severe attacks.
"1946::Vaccination Opposers"
Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1946)
Victoria, British Columbia
While thousands of British Columbians lined up to be vaccinated, the Anti-Vivisectionists tried to convince the masses that vaccination was no longer necessary in their modern-day society. Smallpox had been eradicated in Britain since the 1930s thanks to their government's vaccination program. However, the same vaccination program now threatened injuries rather than offered protection. The program eventually came under review and was discontinued in 1971 after over a hundred years of compulsory vaccinations. Less than a decade later, in 1980, the World Health Organization announced the eradication of smallpox from the earth after thousands of years of known existence. It is still considered one of the most significant international public health achievements.
The anti-vivisectionist cause has existed for centuries, even if under different names. A group was established in Victoria not long after the First World War in response to experimental and torturous cruelty imposed on animals and humans in the name of science. The atrocities continued throughout the Second World War by warring countries, including, among others, the United States, Soviet Russia, the Imperial Japanese Army (Unit 731) and Nazi Germany. The anti-vivisectionists brought many stories to light that would have otherwise been buried and forgotten.
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