The U.S. Public Health Service · Episode 16 of 34 · 32 min
Bubonic Plague: The Outbreak San Francisco Tried to Hide
In March 1900 a Chinese immigrant was found dead in a San Francisco basement and a federal scientist confirmed bubonic plague, the first verified case on U.S. soil. What followed was a cover-up: the governor denied the plague for two years and branded the federal diagnosis fraudulent, and Chinatown was subjected to a discriminatory quarantine. Only after the governor lost office did Rupert Blue lead the first federal rat-eradication campaign.
Who's who
- Joseph Kinyoun+2 more episodesMarine Hospital Service officer who confirmed plague and was branded a fraud
- Henry T. GageCalifornia governor who denied the plague for two years
- Rupert Blue+1 more episodeOfficer who led the rat-eradication campaign, later Surgeon General
- George PardeeGage's successor, a physician who cooperated with the federal campaign
- Wong Chut KingFirst plague victim, a Chinese immigrant found dead in March 1900
- Walter Wyman+1 more episodeSurgeon General who dispatched Blue
Where it happens
- Chinatown, San Francisco, CaliforniaQuarantined in a discriminatory cordon struck down by a federal court
- San Francisco, California+12 more episodesCity declared plague-free in 1908
Timeline
- March 6, 1900Kinyoun confirms the first U.S. plague case
- 1900Federal court strikes down the Chinatown quarantine
- 1902Gage loses re-election; Kinyoun leaves
- February 1903Blue launches the first federal rat-eradication campaign
- 1906Earthquake and fires leave rubble and rats
- November 1908San Francisco declared plague-free
Still debated
Death toll figures are uncertain and likely undercounted given the cover-up. Historians debate how many lives the denial cost, and the racist quarantine was dressed as sanitation. The claim that the cover-up caused plague to become established in western rodents is plausible but unproven.
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