Plague Ports: the Global Impact of Bubonic Plague, 1894-1901.

Between 1894 and 190% the third major pandemic of bubonic plague triggered fear worldwide. Its spread was hastened by squalid living conditions in many port cities. Echenberg, a professor of history at McGill University, selects 10 ports, including Hong Kong, Bombay, Sydney, San Francisco, and Cape Town, for his extensive comparative study. He reviews the effects of this dreaded disease on politics, society, and health policy. The plague was met by an army of Western epidemiologists who had only recently come to understand how the disease spreads. New technologies met resistance as many health specialists confronting the disease relied on tried-and-true methods of quarantine and sanitation. Treatment efforts also spurred concerns over racial profiling and fears that victims were being blamed instead of the animal vectors responsible for the plague. Tension arose between Western treatment approaches, carrying taints of colonialism, and traditional Islamic and Buddhist attitudes. Finally, Echenberg demonstrates how public and political response to the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) echoed the response to the plague pandemic. He suggests areas for change and methods for handling future outbreaks of even deadlier viruses. New York Univ. Press, 2007, 349 p., hardcover, $48.00.