Migration and Health in Florida
Hookworm Outbreaks: Causes and Effects
1910
1920
Hookworm is a worm transmitted through the skin, generally more common in areas of low sanitation, usually sparsley populated. It can not be transmitted through any animals, or through face to face contact.
In 1910, there was an outbreak of hookworm in Polk County, a county in central Florida. In 1910, the population of Polk was only 24,000, and mainly consisted of swampy marshes, and sanitation was poor.
In 1920, there was another outbreak, also in Polk County. By this time there was a population total of approximatly 38,000, however not much had changed about the sanitaion, and not much would be done until the Great Depression.
The Transmission
of
Hookworm
Sources
Information
Pictures
Bole, Kristen. “New Drug Prospect Offers Hope Against Hookworm Infections.” University of California San Francisco. 2012. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/07/12271/new-drug-prospect-offers-hope-against-hookworm-infections.
“Doctor and Nurse examining stool samples for hookworms in Suwannee Coutny,, Florida. Florida Memory Project. 1950. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/44776.
“Unidentified boy with Hookworm disease in Florida.” Florida Memory Project. 1935. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/44548.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Hookworm: Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/gen_info/faqs.html
Fitzgerald, Edward. “Reclaiming A Watery Wilderness.” The Sun. 1906. p 2.
Jarvis, Eric. “"Secrecy Has No Excuse": The Florida Land Boom, Tourism, and the 1926 Smallpox Epidemic in Tampa and Miami”. The Florida Historical Quarterly. 2011. 320–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23035877.
Leathers, W.S, and A.E. Keller. An Investigation Concerning the Status of Hookwom in Florida. American Journal of Hygiene 29(1) Section D: 1-16. January, 1939
Wardell Stiles. 1910. “Frequency of Hookworm Disease or Ground Itch Anemia Among Public School Children in Southern Florida”. Public Health Reports (1896-1970). Association of Schools of Public Health. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4564592
US Census Bureau, 1995: Population of Countie by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990. Fortstall, Rhichard. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/fl190090.txt