The History of Typhoid Fever

typhoid fever is caused by bacteria salmonella typhae, which is spread through feces. Today there is a vaccine for it and it's usually treatable with antibiotics but that was not true in the 1800s. The prevailing theory before Walter Reed really got involved was that yellow fever was spread by fomites. Cuban doctor Carlos Juan Finlay had first theorized that yellow Fever was spread by mosquitoes as early as 1881. He did 104 different experiments between 1881 and 1898 to study the diseases spread. Most of his subjects were immigrant workers who allowed themselves to be bitten by mosquitoes that had bitten yellow fever patients.