Yellow Fever at Miami:
 The Epidemic of 1899

 by William M. Straight, MD

 When 1899 dawned, the City of Miami was barely three years
old, yet its 1,700 residents had already endured severe epidemic
disease. Six months earlier, the Spanish-American War brought 7,500
U.S. Army troops to Miami, who, in turn, brought measles and ty-
phoid fever. These diseases spread from the encampment to the
townsfolk and caused a significant number of deaths.' Mindful of this,
the citizens hoped for better luck during 1899, but such was not to
be. Ahead was an epidemic as mysterious and frightening to the
Miamians of 1899 as the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
is to us today.

 An Exceedingly Clean Town

 In the eyes of the State Health Officer, Miami was, "an ex-
ceedingly clean town, of rock foundation and wind-swept."2 The
houses, mostly of frame construction, were widely spaced and the
business district, chiefly along today's Miami Avenue and Flagler
Street, boasted two dozen brick and at least two concrete buildings.3
Within the city limits there were eighteen miles of smooth streets
paved with rolled, crushed rock. Miami's boundaries at the time were
Eleventh Street on the north; Seventh/Eighth Avenue on the west;
Fifteenth Road on the south; and Biscayne Bay on the east.
 Only a few paved roads extended to the surrounding commu-
nities beyond the city limits. There was a road through the Brickell
Hammock and along the bayfront that was described as "a thing of


William M. Straight, M.D., is a retired physician who has written numer-
ous articles on Florida medical history and has served as historical editor
for the Journal of the Florida Medical Association.