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After scientists confirmed that mosquitoes can transmit yellow fever and other diseases, mosquito control emerged as an important public health measure. Discover how Americans have managed mosquitoes at home and abroad through this selection of items from the NLM collection.

The title page of a book with text and the portrait of a white man

Condensed History of the Great Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, 1879

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Curious readers around the country picked up accounts of the 1878 battle against yellow fever in Memphis, Tennessee. The author of this pamphlet also sold lithographs depicting destruction caused by the outbreak.