The U.S. Public Health Service · Episode 5 of 34 · 40 min
A Planeload of Cats vs. Black Typhus: MARU and the Machupo Heroes (1957–64)
In early 1960s Bolivia a terrifying hemorrhagic fever called black typhus was killing whole families in the village of San Joaquín. Scientists from the Public Health Service's Middle America Research Unit traced it to Machupo virus carried by a wild mouse. When DDT spraying wiped out village cats and the mice multiplied, the team flew in a planeload of cats to break the chain.
Who's who
- Karl M. Johnson+2 more episodesVirologist who isolated and named Machupo virus in 1963
- Patricia Webb+2 more episodesVirologist who helped classify Machupo and caught the virus
- Merle Kuns+1 more episodeMammalogist who identified the mouse reservoir and designed the trapping program
- Henry K. BeyeNIH figure who directed the Middle America Research Unit; died in 1964
- Alexis ShelokovNIH director of the research unit who recruited Johnson
Where it happens
- San Joaquín, Bolivia+1 more episodeVillage devastated by the fever epidemic
- Beni, BoliviaLowland region where black typhus emerged
- Panama Canal Zone+1 more episodeBase of the Middle America Research Unit
Timeline
- 1959First recognized cases of the bleeding fever in the Beni
- May 1962Bolivia appeals for help and the research unit responds
- May 18, 1963Johnson isolates the virus, named Machupo for the local river
- 1964Controlled rodent trapping drops new cases to near zero
- April 9, 1964Henry Beye dies in Panama while directing the unit
- 1965Team publishes virus isolation and epidemiology papers
Still debated
Credit for isolating the virus is clear, since Karl Johnson did it, though a 1963 press report credited another team member. Details such as the cats and some personal accounts rest on family recollection rather than documents.
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