Fatal Infection from a Public Pond
A Spokane County man loses his life after swimming in a pool frequented by diseased cattle.
William Chase, a 20-year-old Spokane County farmer, has died after a year-long illness caused by actinomycosis, commonly known as 'lumpy jaw.' Physicians believe he contracted the disease after bathing in a pool on White Bluffs prairie where local cattle known to be infected were accustomed to drinking. Chase suffered a long decline, eventually wasting away from the infection.
“Physicians pronounced his death due to lumpy jaw and said it was a most remarkable case.”
This tragic story serves as a stark early 20th-century reminder of zoonotic diseases and the dangers of contaminated water sources, highlighting a time when agricultural safety standards were not yet established in the public consciousness.
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