Richard Campanella Cityscapes: Anniversary Of An Epidemic

Published August 8, 2014 at 9:47 AM CDT

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Workers display rat-trapping equipment in New Orleans, circa 1914.

U.S. Public Health Service / National Library of Medicine

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Lab technicians examine dead rats in New Orleans, circa 1914.

U.S. Public Health Service / National Library of Medicine

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A sign on Canal Street, circa 1915, indicates that rat-proofing efforts were underway.

U.S. Public Health Service / National Library of Medicine

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Workers, circa 1914, prepare rat poison in New Orleans.

U.S. Public Health Service / National Library of Medicine

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Workers circa 1915 raise a cottage to compile with rat-proofing efforts.

U.S. Public Health Service / National Library of Medicine

At a time when the Ebola virus is causing panic throughout the world, and has prompted dire warnings from international public health officials, we're revisiting a plague of old: The Plague.

For this month's "Cityscapes" piece on Nola.com, Tulane University's Richard Campanella focused on one of New Orleans's own epidemics. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the bubonic plague outbreak in New Orleans.