San Francisco plague of 1900–1904
| Date | 1900 – 1904 |
|---|---|
| Location | San Francisco |
| Cause | bubonic |
| Outcome | 121 cases |
| Deaths | 113 deaths |
The San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 was an epidemic of bubonic plague centered on San Francisco's Chinatown. It was the first plague epidemic in the continental United States. The epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, but its existence was denied for more than two years by Henry Gage, the Governor of California. His denial was based on business reasons: the wish to keep the reputations of San Francisco and California clean and to prevent the loss of revenue from trade stopped by quarantine. The failure to act quickly may have allowed the disease to establish itself among local animal populations. Federal authorities worked to build a case to prove that there was a major medical health problem, and they isolated the affected area. Proof that an epidemic was occurring served to undermine the credibility of Gage, and he lost the governorship in the 1902 elections. The new governor, George Pardee, quietly implemented a medical solution and the epidemic was stopped in 1904. There were 121 cases identified, including 113 deaths.
After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, much of urban San Francisco was destroyed by fire, including all of the Chinatown district. The process of rebuilding began immediately but took several years. While reconstruction was in full swing, a second plague epidemic hit San Francisco in May and August 1907 but it was not centered in Chinatown. Rather, cases occurred randomly throughout the city; a few more cases were identified across the bay in Oakland. San Francisco's politicians and press reacted very differently this time: they wanted the problem solved speedily. Health authorities worked quickly to assess and eradicate the disease. To control one of the disease's vectors, some $2 million was spent between 1907 and 1911 to kill as many rats as possible in the city. By the end of the second plague outbreak in June 1908, 160 more cases had been identified, including 78 deaths, a much lower mortality rate than 1900–1904. This time, all of the infected people were Caucasian. Shortly thereafter, the California ground squirrel was identified as another vector of the disease. The initial denial and obstructionist response to the 1900 infection may have allowed the pathogen to gain its first toehold in North America, from which it spread sporadically to other states in the form of sylvatic plague (rural plague), though it is possible the squirrel population infection predated 1900.
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