Many years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing a great American historian, William Hardy McNeill. One of Dr. McNeill’s works, “Plagues and Peoples” (1976), is considered required reading for students of Environmental History.

McNeill opens his book with a stunning question:
How did Hernando Cortez, with less than six hundred men, overtake Montezuma’s vast and well armed Aztec Empire? Short Answer: Conquistadores, having acquired immunity over several generations of viral exposure, carried small pox to the Aztecs and other Amerindians who had no immunity. Wherever Cortez and his men trod, death followed in epidemic proportion.

Epidemics, past and present, are hot topics for historians, public health officials, and politicians alike. Scarcely a day goes by without a news update on Swine Flu, West Nile Virus, or some other public health emergency.

This is not new ground for Environmental Health Departments in California. Most of our enforcement duties are intertwined with historic precedents.

Food, Housing, Waste and Nuisance Codes have been an aspect of governance since America’s early colonial era. On your next visit to the California State University Bakersfield Library, look for “The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674”. We owe thanks to Dr. Oliver Rink, California’s pre-eminent historian of Dutch Colonial America for this collection.

These records, dating from the early Dutch West India Company settlement on Manhattan Island (now known as New York City), reveal laws similar to regulations that we enforce today.

1. Dumping night soil (human sewage) on New Amsterdam streets was a fineable offense.
2. Food products were inspected.
3. Adulterated food was prohibited from sale.
4. Stray animals were banned from streets.
5. Pigs required confinement in designated areas.
6. Fire codes were enforced.

In fact, Environmental Health regulations are an outgrowth of perilous times. The Dutch had endured recurrent plague outbreaks in 1350-51, 1359-60, 1364, 1367-8, 1375, 1384-85, 1400-01 and onward. During the 17th century, Boards of Health operated in many of the great cities of Europe, this to control plague. Goods were embargoed or quarantined. Fire and sulfurous smoke was used to purge businesses and homes of vermin and pestilence. These practices were refined in the New World.

The Kern County Public Services Building, “Home of Kern County Environmental Health Services Department,” is located at 2700 “M” Street, in Bakersfield, California. During the historic period, this ground was known as Kern Island and was owned by Colonel Thomas Baker, an early pioneer and the namesake for “Baker’s Field”. Colonel Baker died in 1872 of Typhoid and Pneumonia and is buried at Union Cemetery.

A few years ago, an old wooden building was torn down close to our offices. After the lot was re-graded, the soil yielded an interesting find. In the dirt were shards of porcelain pottery, pipe stems and a few Chinese coins, artifacts of Bakersfield’s old Chinatown.

During the census of 1870, the population of Kern County had reached nearly four thousand. Two hundred of those counted were curiously listed as “Mongolians”. In October 1874, construction on the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Bakersfield. This enormous project was built largely on the backs of Chinese laborers.

If you want to “hear” the voice of people who lived through this firsthand, I highly recommend The Chinese of Kern County 1857-1960 (2002) by William Harland Boyd. Any book or article by this local historian is well worth reading.

It's traditional to link Chinese immigration to the Gold Rush, the transcontinental railroad, or the expansion of agricultural and urban life in California. Comments made years ago by two venerable Kern County Environmental Health sages, Citron Toy and Gene Leong lead us on to a path less traveled, one traversed by Chinese families who fled San Francisco in the wake of an epidemic.

In 1900, the City of San Francisco was the economic powerhouse of California. San Francisco was the most important seaport on the west coast of the western hemisphere. Here was the primary terminus for the railroad and exportation of agricultural and produced goods to every port on the Pacific Rim and the Alaskan Gold Rush. Any threat of embargo or quarantine in the Port of San Francisco had direct economic impact at local, state and national levels.

Two plague epidemics in San Francisco, first in 1900-1904 and again in 1905-1909, are important events in California History. Both outbreaks took many lives, threatened commerce and the national economy.

The first confirmed case of bubonic plague on US soil involved a San Francisco lumber yard owner, Mr. Wing Chung Ging. The attending city physician/coroner served on the San Francisco Board of Health. Lymph node samples were first examined by City Bacteriologist, Wilfred Kellogg, and then by Dr. Joseph Kinyuon, Chief Quarantine Officer of the US Marine Hospital Service on Angel Island.

Kinyuon, a highly-trained bacteriologist, tested and confirmed the tissue samples as “Plague Positive.” This news proved a turning point in California politics.

Governor Henry T. Gage, owed his soul to the Southern Pacific Railroad, banking and real estate interests. To avert quarantine of the seaport and for other economic reasons, Gage and his allies combined to suppress Kinyuon’s diagnosis. Rather than confront the public health emergency head-on, Gage backpedaled, denounced Kinyuon, and blamed the outbreak on the Chinese population. The ensuing controversy reached President McKinley’s oval office.

The electorate responded in 1903. Henry Gage was turned out of office by Dr. George Pardee, a well known San Francisco physician, and reform-minded Republican. Governor Pardee began an immediate program to eradicate San Francisco’s bubonic plague.

A “Citizens Health Committee” was formed to deal with the Public Health Emergency. This was not a low-key outfit. Committee members included leaders from the California State Board of Health, San Francisco Board of Health, San Francisco Stock Exchange, several prominent physicians and Wells Fargo Bank magnates.

Eradicating Plague in San Francisco, The Report of the Citizens Health Committee (1909) reveals “lessons learned” from both epidemics. Committee priorities read like a modern Environmental Health playbook:

1. eliminate rodent harborage and breeding areas
2. rodent “proof” restaurants, markets and hotels
3. inspect animal feeding operations
4. abate garbage nuisances
5. condemn substandard housing

I’ve included several rare photographs from this report for your study. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. (see San Francisco Plague photographs below)

Governor Pardee’s election should be considered the “Dawning of California’s Progressive Era”. Theodore Roosevelt invited Dr. Pardee to be his running mate in the 1904 presidential election. Pardee declined, choosing to focus on immediate responsibilities. President Roosevelt and Governor Pardee remained close political allies the rest of their lives.

A few weeks ago, the number of confirmed Swine Flu cases in Kern County reached eight. In a news interview, Dr. Claudia Jonah, M.D., Kern County’s Public Health Officer, compared these early cases to the 1918 outbreak of “Spanish Influenza”. Using history, Dr. Jonah reminded that the 1918-19 Swine Flu epidemic began gradually in spring and summer, and gained momentum in the fall, eventually spreading worldwide.

Deaths attributed to the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic have been variously estimated between 30 to 50 million, worldwide. At least 675,000 Americans were among these dead. Many of these casualties were young adults, including “Doughboys”, who had joined ranks to fight the “War to End all Wars”. Very few families in the United States were untouched by this epidemic.

In 1919, Julia Babcock, Kern County Librarian, collected biographies of local men who had served in the Great War (World War I). The project was conceived by the California War History Committee, with the intention of preserving a record of every California man in service during the War.

Hundreds of mini-biographies, many accompanied by wartime photographs, were collected and filed by the county librarian. In 1984, Robert E. Cannon, Louann Nickerson, Phyllis T. Pacheco, and Rita Knight brought these precious records to light.

Veterans of World War I, Kern County, California (1984), was published by the Kern County Board of Supervisors, acting as the Board of Trustees for the Beale Memorial Library. Books like this are something historians dream about. “Check it out!” Remember, the worth of a good library in your community, is great.

“’Lest we forget”, I’ve selected a few mini-biographies of Kern County servicemen who were stricken with influenza in 1918. (see Kern Veterans of World War I below) Included is a photograph of Lt. Joseph Kent Smith, who later served as Kern County Public Health Officer during the 1930’s and 40’s.

The 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic prioritized public health and raised awareness at many levels. The value of hand washing, avoiding crowds and protecting oneself from infection was made clear. Do these concerns ever cross your mind on an airplane, waiting in an emergency room or standing in line at Walmart on Saturday night? Are you coughing yet?

The next major epidemic to hit the Golden State occurred in the fall of 1924. During the 1920 census, the population of Los Angeles reached 575,480. In one generation, Los Angeles had shot up from a small town to a sprawling community covering 391 square miles. Los Angeles had eclipsed San Francisco and was now the most important seaport on the west coast.

A few miles east of L.A.’s downtown business district, was an old barrio, known to some as “Little Mexico”. Little Mexico consisted of modest wooden homes, flanked by animal feed lots, industrial property and nearby hills. At the end of each harvest season farm workers, from outlying areas, would over-winter with friends and relatives in the barrio.

On Clara Street, Lucena Samareno, a Mexican woman, a wife and mother, developed flu-like symptoms, that rapidly progressed to pneumonia. In the old tradition of love and respect, many neighbors and family visited her sick bed, which was located in the kitchen of her home. She died on October 19, 1924.

Nearly all of the Samareno family and visitor’s became infected and were hospitalized with signs of severe pneumonia. Most died within 96 hours. The Spanish Priest who administered last rites, an attending nurse and an ambulance driver were among these deaths, 30 in all.

From the onset, county physicians suspected plague. Note that pneumonic plague infections are extremely virulent, being easily spread by coughing, sneezing and contact with body fluids.

As in San Francisco, plague suppression in Los Angeles became, at once, a civic issue. The Mayor, City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Public Health Officer, Chief of Police and scions of the press met behind closed doors to develop an action plan and control information.

The police immediately enforced a strict quarantine of the barrio. Public Health Nurses performed daily check-ups at each home. County General Hospital created a large isolation unit. Inspectors conducted rodent surveys and identified areas of infestation. The Chamber of Commerce contributed funds.

Rodents were trapped at several locations throughout the city. Thousands of rat carcasses were processed by state and federal bacteriologists to confirm plague. Open garbage dumps and pig farms were singled out during the rodent survey. One dump/pig farm operation yielded over 1,000 rats in one night. (see LA Plague photographs below)

The Los Angeles Plague Epidemic of 1924 became a watershed for anti-plague measures:

• Ships in Los Angeles Harbor were fumigated. Holds were inspected and remodeled to eliminate rodent harborage.
• Substandard food facilities were closed and “rodent proofed”.
• The city also ordered new garbage hauling wagons to keep up with waste.
• “Open dumps” (un-burned waste) were converted to “burn dumps”.
• Many homes and businesses were demolished and burned. Sanitation standards pertaining to horse stables, hog farms, poultry ranches, and dairies were implemented in Los Angeles County.
• The Board of Supervisors also created a perpetual emergency fund for plague emergencies and rodent surveillance.
• Throughout California, municipal burn dumps replaced open dumps. Burning waste continued as a standard practice until the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1971.

I’ve included a map of Kern County Burn Dumps for your study. (see Kern Burn Dump Map below)

A total of 426 human plague cases occurred in California from 1900 to 1925. Of these cases, Fifty–five percent (234) were fatal. Since the 1924 Los Angeles Epidemic, (62) human plague cases have been reported in California. Of these, a significant number of cases have occurred in Kern County.

(see Kern County Map: Human and Animal Plague 1934-2009 below)

Next are few photographs that relate to a 1996 Pneumonic Plague investigation in Tehachapi. This case was significant, being the first pneumonic plague death in California since 1924. Kern County Environmental Health Specialists assisted Biologists from the California Department of Public Health Vector Borne Disease Section throughout the investigation. (see Kern Plague photos below)

History has shown that plague can unravel a city or government in short order. Consider recent events surrounding a modern Plague epidemic. In September 1994, plague struck Surat, a city in western India. To summarize this outbreak:

• Government officials declared an international public health emergency.
• Authorities then ordered closure of all schools, colleges, cinemas, halls and public gatherings.
• Factories, banks, and offices were asked to shut down.
• Local and international media played an important role, but exaggerated the death toll.
• Fearing infection, 420,000 refugees left the region.
• Agricultural exports were curtailed.
• Several countries imposed plague-related restrictions on Indian travelers
• Stocks tumbled.
• Economic losses to India were tabulated in the billions.

The final death toll attributed to plague = 56… a huge “man-made” catastrophe on the back of a public health emergency! In today’s uncertain times, it’s not difficult to project similar disasters, natural, “man-made” or a combination of both, right in our own backyard.

We must develop mindsets and skills that will help us work through catastrophic situations. Many free public health and emergency preparedness training resources are available online. If you have any questions contact me. Personal preparedness is a high priority in Kern County.

In closing, I’d like to share a few tips that you won’t find in our excellent brochure. (see Plague Brochure) These ideas are distilled from years of experience. You are welcome to join the campfire, so chime in.

“Bill’s Unofficial Floating Bull Session on Plague”

Plague bacilli have been isolated from animal sources or humans in 49 of California’s 58 counties since 1900. If you live or visit mountain or rural areas in California above 2000’ elevation, your are in a “Plague Endemic Zone”, meaning that plague antibodies will likely to be found in some rodent and squirrels in your area.

1. Be skeptical of hard rules concerning plague at defined altitudes. Expect exceptions.
2. Do not feed wildlife at home. I know this can be a huge temptation, but don’t give in. Bird feeders and outdoor pet bowls attract rats, squirrels, chipmunks and mice. Rodents will relocate near your home to be close to feeders and bowls.
3. “In-door/outdoor cats” are another problem in high country. If "Fluffy" appears scruffy, lethargic, or has a swollen neck, immediately take your cat to a veterinarian for treatment. Do not sleep with indoor/outdoor cats. Plague-infected cats pose an extreme danger to humans.
4. Do not feed feral cats. (see above) Feral and domestic cats are easily infected with plague.
5. Flea treatments are recommended for dogs and cats living in plague endemic areas. Dogs can transport plague fleas while foraging. A veterinarian is your best resource to review flea control options.
6. Some believe shooting ground squirrels is the most satisfying method of control. Shooting squirrels works against flea control. Fleas, infected or not, will immediately leave a carcass to find a new host = you!
7. Handling or eating infected squirrels, prairie dogs, and cats can also transmit plague. Blood-borne plague infections are extremely deadly. Teach your family members to avoid contact with dead or sick wildlife, including bats (rabies). While on this subject, make sure your pets are up to date on rabies vaccinations.
8. Eradicating fleas is a great idea, especially at the entrance of ground squirrel burrows found on your property. Check your local hardware store for a suitable spray or dust and follow written directions. You can also build simple dusting stations out of PVC pipe. Look on-line for plans.
9. “Build out” rodents from your home, tack room or storage shed. Screen or plug openings. Do not tolerate burrows under buildings or nests in walls or attic.
10. Immediately seek medical attention if you suspect plague infection. Personally, I always advise my doctor at routine checkups that I work in plague endemic areas. Early intervention is simple and can save your life and the lives of others.

My last photo essay is dedicated to David Price III, retiring Director of Kern County Resource Management Agency. Among many accomplishments, Dave led the creation of Kern County Code Compliance Division.

Attached are photographs from a 1941 Kern County Environmental Health case involving substandard farm labor housing. Homer Harrison, a legendary Environmental Health Inspector, whose public service in Kern County spanned five decades, is shown in the last photo. (see Homer Harrison photos below) Happy Trails Dave!

Have you ever had an “Indiana Jones experience?” You know what I mean. It happens when you discover an artifact from the past that opens a door to an incredible quest. So it began, when I began to sift the history of polio and specifically a 1934 epidemic and trial vaccination program that occurred in Kern County.

During the first half of the 20th century, poliomyelitis was a very common and serious disease. Thousands in the United States who became infected with the polio virus were killed or paralyzed before effective vaccines became available during late 1950’s and early 60’s.

Poliomyelitis is a contagious disease caused by an intestinal virus. Some people experience flu-like, headache, fever, sore throat and nausea. Others have no symptoms at all, yet can still be contagious. The virus may attack cells of the brain and spinal cord and result in muscular paralysis or death.

The virus looks like a fuzzy dot under an electron microscope (see photo). It takes only a few to paralyze and shrivel muscles, arrest the rhythmic motion of breathing muscles, and even to kill. It enters the body by nose or mouth, then travels to the intestines where it incubates.

Polio can be spread through contact with an infected baby’s diapers, airborne droplets, and fecal contaminated food or water. Reducing viral exposures from contaminated water, swimming pools, food, and disease vectors are the province of Kern Environmental Health Services Department.

In 1934, the Great Depression was in full swing. Thousands of people flocked to Kern County looking for work. The population census of Kern County in 1930 was 82,570, with roughly 2/3 living in rural locations and 1/3 urban. By 1935, the population swelled to 94,433 (estimated).

Many lived in “squatter” camps or on open land, out of cars and trucks. In these conditions, a source of potable water, a toilet or wash-sink was non-existent. Eyewitness accounts by Kern County Sanitarians indicate that many people obtained drinking water from canal and ditch banks. Such gritty conditions are reflected in John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”.

During the mid-1930’s Steinbeck made several trips to Kern County, this to develop background for his book. Anecdotally, it was observed that Steinbeck spent long afternoons “quaffing ale” and hanging out at the Monte Carlo Bar, still located at crossroads in Old River, a farming center south of Bakersfield. That might be a good place to raise a glass of Sprite and toast old John Steinbeck on the 70th Anniversary of his Pulitzer Prize. But I digress…

As the Great Depression gained momentum, “Hoovervilles” were established in Bakersfield, Shafter and other locations. The old county fair grounds on North Chester, where Sam Lynn Ball Park now stands, was a migrant camp borne out of necessity. Today, all that remains are glass shards and ash residues buried on-site. Temporary housing projects, such as Sunset Labor Camp, in Arvin were built and operated as a result of Federal Relief programs. (see photograph) Organized camps were inspected by Health Department Sanitarians. This responsibility is carried forward today by county Environmental Health Specialists.

Digging deeper, I found a superb oral history of Dr. Juliet Thorner M.D. Therein, Dr. Thorner described people and living conditions encountered during her internship at Kern General Hospital (now Kern Medical Center). Her eyewitness account from 1934 is “pithy” and representative of the Great Depression in the Central Valley. I have created a link to allow your examination of this document (See link to Thorner Oral History). I’m confident you will find it extremely interesting.

Please note that Dr. Thorner was a lifelong champion for the cause of children. Her namesake, “ Dr. Juliet Thorner Elementary School ”, reminds us of her example to carry this work forward.

If you are a student or civic-minded person, think of how you might use her oral history as a model for your own project. There are countless “lost goldmines” in the memories of young and old alike in your community. Your interviews can bring precious knowledge to light. I recommend that you coordinate and submit your interviews with the librarian at the Local History Room of Kern County Beale Memorial Library. Several Kern County schools have outstanding reputations with National History Field Day competition. Contact your local elementary, middle, or high school and plan to attend these highly entertaining and free events.

It can be said that as a nation, we a “collecting people”. When faced with a move, our vast collections of ephemera and paperwork undergo dislocation. To deal with this, some are able to apply Clint Eastwood’s three part test i.e. sort out the “Good” the “Bad” and the “Ugly”. Others, like myself, become absorbed with each piece and are paralyzed.

“The Best of Times”, a 1986 movie featuring Taft and Kern County, is recommended therapy for this problem. If you understand the scene where Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell) is confronted by his wife Gigi (Pamela Reed) about the Studebaker brake drum in their front yard, you are welcome to join my support group.

In 2000-01, the Kern Public Health Department was preparing to move from their old digs on Flower Street to new headquarters on Mt. Vernon Avenue. If Indiana Jones does exist, her name would be Sharon Kramer, Senior Office Services Specialist, Kern County Department of Public Health.

While sorting through several boxes of paperwork in the “catacombs” of “Flower Street”, Ms. Kramer found and brought to light several Annual Reports of Kern County Health Department, each dating from the 1930’s. The 1935 Report was aptly subtitled “Guarding the Health of Kern County”.

Kramer's find was spectacular. The reports revealed invaluable data: population, department organization, functions of Environmental Health Sanitarians and Milk Inspectors, vital statistics on reportable diseases, epidemiological maps concerning a countywide polio epidemic. Included was a Report of the Experience in Immunization Against Infantile Paralysis with Formol (formaldehyde) Treated Poliomyelitis Vaccine.

These documents reflect a turning point in history. In 1934-35, two regions in the United States were selected for testing experimental polio vaccines, Raleigh, North Carolina and Kern County, California. These test locations were not random. Both Raleigh and Kern were epicenters of a national polio epidemic. Over 100 polio cases and 12 deaths were reported in Kern in 1934-35.

Concurrent with the polio outbreak, Kern County Health Department Sanitarians responded to complaints involving children playing in a sewage lagoon near Maricopa and with wastewater releases in Taft, along Sandy Creek.

At the same time, microbiologists in the United States raced to develop a polio vaccine. Dr. Maurice Brodie M.D. proposed a vaccine derived from monkey brains and spinal cord tissue infected with polio virus and treated with formaldehyde, Research and development was funded by the “Presidential Birthday Fund”, a non-profit organization established for polio research by close friends of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In Kern County, 5,028 people, mostly school children, were vaccinated with Brodie’s experimental vaccine. The result of the Raleigh and Kern vaccine trials were ultimately deemed unsuccessful, if not tragic.

Understanding failure is the road to success and lessons learned from these experiments were foundational toward the development of safer vaccines (Salk & Sabin) a generation later. Today, polio cases are rare in the United States.

During the 1930’s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later known as the March of Dimes. Although FDR was paralyzed from the waist down, he refused to accept a prognosis of permanent disability. Tenacity became a major part of FDR’s public image. His wife, Eleanor, philosophically noted that her husband’s illness strengthened and prepared him to face serious challenges during the Great Depression and World War II. (see Roosevelt Picture)

The 1935 Polio Epidemic and Kern County Vaccine Trial presents a watershed for further study and research. Some of the children who received the experimental vaccine are still with us and should be interviewed to add their voices to this story. As with every Indiana Jones plot, the ending is not final but leads us on. I welcome your comments and questions.

Welcome to my first and brief column for the Kern County Environmental Health Services Department . Our homepage and this column is your gateway to Environmental Health in Kern County, California. It is designed with you in mind.

Our Department is responsible for wide range of activities and tasks which are deemed essential to protecting public health, safety, and the environment. You can readily discuss environmental health related topics with my colleagues and myself through this website. We encourage you to share your thoughts, concerns, questions and experiences.

At the beginning of each year state and local public health agencies gear up for vector-borne disease prevention programs. In medicine, the term “vector” means a “carrier.” Mosquitoes, fleas, flies, ticks, rodents, and bats, are just a few “carriers” that can transfer disease pathogens to humans. Rabies, West Nile Virus, Hanta Virus, and Bubonic Plague are examples of “vector-borne” diseases found in Kern County and other areas of the United States.

In Kern, the first outbreak of plague was reported in ground squirrels during the late 1930’s, at the old Keene Ranch. Since 1966, animal and human plague cases have been reported in several mountain and rural communities, such as Tehachapi, Hart Flat, Red Rock Canyon, Walker Basin, Caliente, Keene, Kern Valley, Bear Valley Springs, Frazier Park, and Glenville. To learn more about plague prevention, please go to this link or e-mail any question or comment to me.

I look forward to hearing from you on this or other topics of your choice.