Migration and Health in Florida
St. Louis Encephalitis
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
In 1977, the environmentalist movement had been well underway for a number of years, and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring about the detrimental side effects of DDT had been widely circulated, and so chemical mosquito control had tapered off, allowing for the reemurgence of disease. This outbreak lead to the creation of sentinel chickens that can help to alert people to mosquitoes in the area that are infected with St. Louis Encephalitis.
The outbreaks that occured sporadically in 1959, 1961 and 1962 throughout Florida occured in the wake of the massive population growth following the end of World War ll. Between 1950 and 1960, the population increased by almost 79%.
During the '90s, there were periodic outbreaks, with the largest one occuring between 1990 and 1991 with a total of 226 cases recorded. One of the reasons for this was the massive immigration rates since 1970.
Sources
Information
Pictures
Donald A. Shroyer and Jorge R. Rey. “St.Louis Encephalitis: A Florida Problem.” University of Floirda. 2012. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg337
“Frequency of St. Louis encephalitis virus in humans from Florida, USA: 1990-1999.” U.S. National Library of Medicine. 2000. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10916306.
Matin, John, Leon Bouvier, and William Leonard. “Shaping Florida: The Effects of Immigration, 1970-2020. Center for Immigration Studies. 1995. http://cis.org/FloridaImmigrants19702020
Patterson, Gordon. The Mosquito Wars: A History of Mosquito Control in Florida Gainesville, Fl: Gordon Patterson, 2004.
“St. Louis Encephalitis.” Okaloosa County. 2015. http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/pw/environmental/mosquito-control/saint-louis-encephalitis
US Census Bureau. Resident Population and Appointment of the U.S. House of Representatives. https://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/florida.pdf.
“Proposed malaria control ditch at Alligator Creek.” Florida Memory Project. 1935. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/5788
“St. Louis Encephalitis.” Benton County Mosquito Control District. 2016. http://www.mosquitocontrol.org/st-louis-encephalitis
“St. Louis Encephalitis.” Okaloosa County. 2015. http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/pw/environmental/mosquito-control/saint-louis-encephalitis
