Typhoid Outbreak Strikes Seattle’s Fourth and Fifth Wards
Eight cases of typhoid fever and two deaths have been reported since the start of the year, prompting Health Officer Palmer to urge residents to boil their drinking water.
Since the beginning of the present year eight cases of typhoid fever have been reported at the health office, out of which number there have been two deaths. The majority of cases are in the Fourth and Fifth wards. Health Officer Palmer recommends that people be careful about drinking water, as that is the most dangerous source of infection in case of typhoid fever. The simplest way to avoid the germ is to drink water that has been boiled.
“The simplest way to avoid the germ is to drink water that has been boiled.”
In 1894, typhoid was a constant threat because Seattle’s water supply was often contaminated. The health officer’s advice to boil water remains a basic public health measure, but the story also reminds us how far we’ve come in water treatment—and how quickly outbreaks can return when infrastructure fails.
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