Main description:

In March 1900, Dr. Joseph James Kinyoun, a surgeon with the Marine Hospital Service and the founder of the Hygienic Laboratory, which became the National Institutes of Health, discovered bubonic plague in San Francisco. His finding led to an immediate outcry from the governor, local and state politicians, and the city's commercial interests. In the hyper-sensationalized journalism of San Francisco's newspapers, Kinyoun was ridiculed, leading to death threats and a $50,000 bounty on his head. Eventually, California's quarantine caused an enormous uproar.

By the time a special federal commission produced a report (initially withheld from the public, leading to charges of a coverup) that vindicated Kinyoun, a deal had been brokered wherein the pioneering doctor was removed from his post.

This book tells a timely story about yellow journalism, coverup, corruption, the struggle between science and politics, and the consequences of blind denial of the truth.

Contents:

Acknowledgments vi
Foreword by David M. Morens, MD 1
Introduction 3
I. The War Was Now Over 13
II. The Marine Hospital Service 20
III. The European Influence 30
IV. The New Frontier 37
V. The Pursuit: 1890-1891 46
VI. A Whirlwind of Discovery and Research: 1891-1894 60
VII. Widening the Realm: 1895-1896 79
VIII. The First Decade 92
IX. Abroad Again 102
X. War and the Third Pandemic 111
XI. 1899: The Year of Great Upheaval 119
XII. Angel Island 130
XIII. Y. Pestis 144
XIV. Venomous Pens 165
XV. Darkening Clouds 187
XVI. The Price of Truth 203
XVII. Farewells 222
Chapter Notes 235
Bibliography 267
Index 273