Biosecurity

It’s time for the military to take pandemics seriously

The military used to take disease seriously; there is historical precedent here. General George Washington wrote in April 1777 that smallpox was “more destructive to an Army in the Natural way, than the Enemy’s sword.” From Washington until World War I, infectious disease took more soldiers’ lives than battle. But over time, the military turned this tide: A British Royal Navy surgeon proved citrus treated scurvy; Army Major Walter Reed, while in Cuba, confirmed yellow fever was transmitted through mosquitos rather than human contact. Across the Pacific, the US Army set up the Tropical Disease Board in Manila, which lasted until the 1930s and made advances against beri-beri, plague, malaria, and dengue. The Office of Malaria Control in War Areas, established in 1942, was deemed so successful in its efforts that it survived to be known today by another name: the CDC. These military efforts abroad directly contributed to the eradication of malaria, yellow fever, and other diseases – and saved American lives at home.