23. The 1885 Montreal Smallpox Epidemic
Ever since inoculation was developed, there has never been a shortage of a vocal – and often irrational – minority to vehemently protest and rile up the community against efforts to combat the spread of infectious diseases. With the spread of education and public knowledge of vaccination, such anti-vaxxers usually lose – but not before they have caused significant damage. Though sometimes, they outright won, and the results tend to be catastrophic. One such anti-vaxxer win occurred in Montreal, in 1885. It began that March, when a train conductor infected with smallpox took to bed in a local hotel.
He recovered, but a laundry maid caught the disease from his linens. She died on April 2nd, but not before she had passed it on to her sister, who also died. By late summer, the smallpox had spread all over Montreal and surrounding areas. When the contagion came to an end, the region had experienced an epidemic with shockingly high fatality rates of around 40%. More than 6,000 died, and 13,000 were disfigured, most of them children. The overwhelming majority of them would not have gotten sick in the first place, if not for the success of a dumb and irrational anti-vaccination campaign.
