Abstract
This chapter examines the history of plague in Brazil and its internalization in the country in the first half of the twentieth century, paying equal attention to global dynamics of plague studies and how Brazil interacted with them. Firstly, the chapter discusses plague as a problem located in the Brazilian ports and how Brazil took part in a global war against the rats. The chapter then discusses the internalization of plague in different rural and wild settings around the world and the emergence of the idea of sylvatic plague—the plague among wild rodents living in desertic environments. The chapter moves back to Brazil in the 1930s, when plague became a rural disease in the North-East of the country, examining important studies on the role of rats and wild rodents spreading the disease there. Finally, the chapter explores the growing fears in the 1940s that the plague could invade the Amazon and other rainforest regions. The chapter argues that during most of these fifty years, plague was framed in Brazil as a global scourge because its main spreaders, domestic rats, were seen as a universal menace present in every port and rural area of the world. It was only at the end of the period examined in the chapter that it gained a tropical dimension in Brazil, when the idea of sylvatic plague started to be understood as jungle plague, which constituted an original reinterpretation of the concept.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
All translations from French, Portuguese, and Spanish sources were made by the chapter’s author.
- 2.
Despite being categorized as a sole entity, the use of the term domestic rats in France, Brazil, and elsewhere commonly embraced two different species: the black rat (Rattus rattus) and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).
- 3.
Ricardo Jorge (1899) identified the arrival of plague to Porto in 1899, one of the most important outbreaks in Europe during the Third Plague Pandemic.
- 4.
Zoology Elton Archive: Correspondence about sylvatic plague 1938–1939, Bodleian Library, Catalogued Archives and MSS 606612154, CN 222/1/1.
- 5.
It does not mean, though, that plague completely disappeared from the coast. For instance, Fortaleza, an important port and capital city of Ceará, was touched in 1934, which created a momentum for those missions. See Fialho (1935, 183).
References
Advisory Committee for Plague Investigation in India. (1906). I. Experiments upon the Transmission of Plague by Fleas: Part II. Transference from Rat to Rat. The Journal of Hygiene, 6(4), 435–449.
Advisory Committee for Plague Investigation in India. (1907). XX. A Note on Man as a Host of the Indian Rat Flea (P. Cheopis). The Journal of Hygiene, 7(3), 472–476.
Anonymous. (1908). Resumo dos Trabalhos do Instituto Bacteriológico de São Paulo (1892–1906). Peste Bubônica. Revista Médica de São Paulo, XI(4), 77–78.
Anonymous. (1910). Brésil. (Rio-de-Janeiro) Cas et Décès de Peste de 1900 à 1909/Rats Incinérés de 1903 à 1909 et de Maison Rendues Impénétrables aux Rats de 1903 à 1909. Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique, II(6), 933–934.
Anonymous. (1912). La Peste dans la Série Animale. Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique, IV(3), 431–480.
Assumpção, L. V. d. (1937). O Virus Isolado dos Doentes de Febre Amarella Silvestre Durante o Último Surto Epidêmico Verificado no Estado de São Paulo.
Benchimol, J. (1990a). Manguinhos do Sonho à Vida: A Ciência na Belle Époque. Casa de Oswaldo Cruz.
Benchimol, J. (1990b). Pereira Passos: Um Haussmann Tropical: A Renovação Urbana da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro no Início do Século XX. Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Secretaria Municipal de Cultura, Turismo e Esportes, Departamento Geral de Documentação e Informação Cultural.
Benchimol, J., & Teixeira, L. A. (1993). Cobras, Lagartos e Outros Bichos: Uma História Comparada dos Institutos Oswaldo Cruz e Butantan. Editora da UFRJ/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
Calmette, A. (1908). Déclarons la Guerre aux Rats. La Revue du Mois, 3(28), 432–444.
Cruz, O. (1904). Relatório do Diretor Geral de Saúde Pública. In Brasil. Ministério da Justiça e Negócios Interiores. Ministro J. J. Seabra. Relatório dos Anos 1903 e 1904 Apresentado ao Presidente da República dos Estados Unidos do Brazil. Imprensa Nacional.
Cruz, O. (1906). Peste. Besnard Frères.
Cueto, M., Brown, T. M., & Fee, E. (2019). The World Health Organization: A History. Global Health Histories. Cambridge University Press.
Echenberg, M. J. (2007). Plague Ports: The Global Urban Impact of Bubonic Plague, 1894–1901. New York University Press.
Engelmann, L., & Lynteris, C. (2019). Sulphuric Utopias: A History of Maritime Fumigation. Inside Technology. The MIT Press.
Falcão, E. d. C. (1971). Oswaldo Cruz Monumenta Histórica: Tomo 1 a Incompreensão de uma Epoca: Oswaldo Cruz e a Caricatura. s. n.
Fialho, A. (1935). Estudos sobre a Peste Bubônica no Ceará. Revista de Hygiene e Saúde Pública, IX(6), 180–205.
Galli-Valerio, B. (1900). Les Puces des Rats et des Souris Jouent-Elles un Rôle Important dans la Transmission de la Peste Bubonique? Centralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten, XXVII(1), 1–4.
Girard, G. (1948). Sur un Point de Terminologie: L’expression Peste Selvatique ou Sylvatique est Fondamentalement Erronée. Bulletin de la Société de Pathologie Exotique, 41, 15–16.
Hochman, G. (2013). A Era do Saneamento: As bases da política de Saúde Pública no Brasil (3rd ed.). Hucitec.
Indian Plague Commission. (1901). Report of the Indian Plague Commission with Appendices and Summary (Vol. V). Eyre and Spottiswoode.
Jorge, R. (1899). A Peste Bubônica no Porto-1899. In Seu Descobrimento. Primeiros Trabalhos. Repartição de Saúde e Higiene da Câmara do Porto.
Jorge, R. (1927a). Les Faunes des Rongeurs et des Puces dans leurs Rapports avec la Peste (Première Partie). Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique, XIX(8), 1094–1109.
Jorge, R. (1927b). Les Faunes des Rongeurs et des Puces dans leurs Rapports avec la Peste (Deuxième Partie). Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique XIX, 9, 1257–1288.
Jorge, R. (1928). Les Faunes Régionales des Rongeurs et des Puces dans leurs Rapports avec la Peste: Résultats de l’enquête du Comité Permanent de l’Office International d’hygiène Publique 1924–1927. Masson et cia.
Kitasato, S. (1894). The Bacillus of Bubonic Plague. The Lancet, 144(3704), 428–430.
Lamb, G. (1906). The Advisory Committee for the Plague Investigation in India: Third Progress Report to the Committee. SA/LIS/J.3: Box 6. Wellcome Library.
Lane, J. (1936). Notas Sobre Investigaçōes Entomológicas em Localidades Onde Houve Febre Amarella Sylvestre em São Paulo. Archivos de Hygiene e Saude Publica, I(2), 125–133.
Löwy, I. (1990). Yellow Fever in Rio de Janeiro and the Pasteur Institute Mission (1901–1905): The Transfer of Science to the Periphery. Medical History, 34(2), 144–163. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300050626
Löwy, I. (2001). Virus, moustiques et modernité: la fièvre jaune au Brésil, entre science et politique. Éd. des Archives Contemporaines.
Luna, S. (2021). O Serviço Nacional de Peste e o Controle Da Peste Bubônica No Nordeste Brasileiro (1941–1956). Master’s Thesis, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Casa de Oswaldo Cruz.
Macchiavello Varas, A. (1932). Estudio Sobre las Ratas de Puerto de Antofagasta en Relacion con las Epidemias de Peste Bubonica. Revista del Institut Bacteriologico de Chile y de la Sociedad Chilena de Microbiologia e Higiene, III(1), 39–72.
Macchiavello Varas, A. (1941). Contribuciones al Estudio de la Peste Bubonica en el Nordeste del Brasil. Pan American Sanitary Bureau.
Meyer, K. F. (1936). The Sylvatic Plague Committee. American Journal of Public Health and the Nation’s Health, 26(10), 961–969.
Motta, M. d. C. (1936). O Problema da Peste no Estado da Parahyba. Archivos de Hygiene, VI(1), 187–210.
Nascimento, D. R. d. (2011). La Llegada de la Peste al Estado de Sao Paulo en 1899. Dynamis: Acta Hispanica Ad Medicinae Scientiarumque Historiam Illustrandam, 31(1), 65–83. https://doi.org/10.4321/S0211-95362011000100004
Nascimento, D. R. d., & Silva, M. A. D. d. (2013). ‘Não é Meu Intuito Estabelecer Polêmica’: A Chegada da Peste ao Brasil, Análise de uma Controvérsia, 1899. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 20(suppl 1), 1271–1285. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-59702013000400010
Office International d’Hygiène Publique. (1910). Session Extraordinaire d’avril 1910 du Comité Permanent de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique: Procès-Verbaux Des Séances. Imprimerie-Librarie Reunies Martinet Dr.
Office International d’Hygiène Publique. (1924). Session Extraordinaire d’avril-mai 1924 du Comité Permanent de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique: Procès-Verbaux Des Séances. Imprimerie Nationale.
Office International d’Hygiène Publique. (1928). Modèle de Certificat de Dératisation (Ou d’exemption de Dératisation) Adopté par l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique dans sa Session de Novembre 1927. Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique, XX(2), 295.
Paillette, C. (2012). Épidémies, Santé et Ordre Mondial. Le Rôle des Organisations Sanitaires Internationales, 1903–1923. Monde(s), 2(2), 235–256. https://doi.org/10.3917/mond.122.0235
Parreiras, D. (1935). Notas e Estudos Sobre a Peste no Nordeste do Brasil. Problema Nacional, 429–433.
Pemberton, N. (2014). The Rat-Catcher’s Prank: Interspecies Cunningness and Scavenging in Henry Mayhew’s London. Journal of Victorian Culture, 19(4), 520–535. https://doi.org/10.1080/13555502.2014.967548
Pottevin, H. (1910). La Dératisation: Rapport sur l’État Actuel des Méthodes Applicables à la Destruction des Rongeurs et de leurs Parasites Établi pour Être Presenté au Comité Permanent de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique par M. Le Docteur Henri Pottevin, Secrétaire Général de l’Offfice. Bulletin Mensuel de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique, II(4), 542–612.
Silva, F. V. d. (1935). Relatório sobre a Peste Selvática em Angola. Elaborado a Pedido do Prof. Dr. Ricardo Jorge’. Espólio 18, caixa 18, maço 5. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal – Reservados.
Silva, F. V. d. (1939). Animais Bravos nas suas Relaçöes com os Problemas Sanitários do Sul de Angola. Imprensa Nacional.
Silva, M. A. D. d. (2018). From Bombay to Rio de Janeiro: The Circulation of Knowledge and the Establishment of the Manguinhos Laboratory, 1894–1902. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 26(2), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-59702019000200001
Silva, M. A. D. d. (2020). Quand la Peste Connectait le Monde: Production et Circulation de Savoirs Microbiologiques entre Brésil, Inde et France (1894–1922). Thèse de Doctorat, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
Silva, M. A. D. d. (2023). Between Deserts and Jungles: The Emergence and Circulation of Sylvatic Plague (1920–1950). Medical Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2023.2189110
Silva Junior, M. (1936). Peste no Ceará. Archivos de Hygiene, VI(1), 155–186.
Silva Junior, M. (1937). Peste Silvestre no Ceará. Archivos de Hygiene, VII(I), 95–97.
Simon, R. (1951). Verificação da Sensibilidade dos Roedores da Região Neotrópica. Gráfica Debret.
Simond, P.-L. (1898). La Propagation de la Peste. Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, XII(10), 625–687.
Simond, P.-L. (1905). La Question du Véhicule de la Peste (Extrait de La Revue Médico-Chirurgicale du Brésil et de l’Amérique Latine, N° 5 de 1905). Besnard Frères.
Simond, P.-L. (1911). Peste. In A. Chantemesse & E. Mosny (Eds.), Traité d’hygiène (Vol. 17, pp. 429–535). J.B. Baillière et Fils.
Simond, P.-L. (1913). Peste. In C. Grall & A. Clarac (Eds.), Traité de Pathologie Exotique, Clinique et Thérapeutique. Maladies Parasitaires, Peste (pp. 453–648). J.B. Baillière et Fils.
Soper, F. L. (1937). The Newer Epidemiology of Yellow Fever. American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, 27(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.27.1.1
Soper, F. L., Penna, H., Cardoso, E., Serafim, J., Frobisher, M., & Pinheiro, J. (1933). Yellow Fever Without Aëdes Aegypti. Study of a Rural Epidemic in the Valle do Chanaan, Espirito Santo, Brazil, 1932. American Journal of Epidemiology, 18(3), 555–587. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117967
Stepan, N. (1976). Beginnings of Brazilian Science: Oswaldo Cruz, Medical Research and Policy, 1890–1920. Science History Publications.
Vasconcellos, H. F. d. (1908). Prophylaxie de la Peste à Rio de Janeiro. Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, XXII(10), 819–831.
Vasconcellos, H. F. d. (1910). La Prophylaxie de la Peste à Rio de Janeiro. In Session Extraordinaire d’avril 1910 du Comité Permanent de l’Office International d’Hygiène Publique: Procès-Verbaux des Séances (pp. 11–31). Librairies-Imprimeries Réunis Martinet Dr.
Yersin, A. (1894). La Peste Bubonique à Hong-Kong. Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, VIII(9), 662–667.
Funding
Research leading to this chapter was funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant ID 217988/Z/19/Z] for the project “The Global War Against the Rat and the Epistemic Emergence of Zoonosis”.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Silva, M.A.D.d. (2024). From Universal Rats to Future Jungle Foci: Actors and Places of Plague in Brazil (1899–1940s). In: Capocci, M., Cozzoli, D. (eds) Empire, Nation-building, and the Age of Tropical Medicine, 1885–1960. Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38805-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38805-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-38804-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-38805-7
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)