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125 years ago, pandemics were handled with scarce resources and little knowledge of appropriate treatment and precautions. The coronavirus crisis has undoubtedly sent Dallasites into a state of discomfort. Unsure of what the next weeks and months will bring, it is important to reflect on the past to see how we once handled epidemics and the extreme measures that were taken to enforce regulations.
A now familiar uneasiness swept through Dallas on Jan. 2, 1886, when The News reported that a miner, N.W. Dean, freshly returned from El Paso, came down with smallpox. Dean was residing at a McKinney Avenue home near Greenwood Cemetery. The survival rate for those who contracted the disease during this time was not high. The lucky individuals who did survive were usually physically disfigured.
A physician was not always available and could easily decline calls for treatment. Within days, there were seven infected individuals living in the shanty. Before the disease had run its course, it had claimed the lives of four out of the seven in this residence. The residence was ultimately burned along with the belongings of the infected.
By the end of January 1886, rumors of residents falling ill to smallpox were circulating in full force in Dallas. These rumors were not unwarranted, as there were 28 confirmed cases in nearby Fort Worth at this time. When doctors were summoned to the homes of those exhibiting symptoms, they found that most of these cases were common colds and perpetuated by hysteria surrounding the illness.
In response, the Dallas City Council set up a mandatory quarantine against Fort Worth. No individuals would be let into Dallas, nor would they leave to enter into Fort Worth. Fearing that the plague was upon them, residents pleaded with the government to make wholesale vaccinations available free to the poor. The government obliged.
The mandatory quarantine was not a suggestion to stay indoors and avoid people; this meant that authorities would be mounted on horseback toting firearms ready to shoot or apprehend anyone who attempted to deviate from mandatory isolation.
In 10 days, the crisis had passed, but Dallas was not exempt from cases of the disease. The mandatory quarantine slowed the contagion and quick action to vaccinate saved many lives.
Smallpox outbreaks continued to ebb and flow throughout the early 1920s. Police continued to regulate mandatory quarantines as many residents would violate the orders. Law enforcement officers were allowed to arrest individuals attempting escape who were not abiding by quarantine regulations.
Eventually, the disease was eradicated through vaccination and proper quarantine procedures.
Today we have the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in addition to the Center for Preparedness and Response to help aid in a massive health crisis.
While not fully prepared for coronavirus testing, the institution of quarantining has proved to slow contagion in Dallas for well over a century.
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