Diseases Kill Thousands

The Emergency Hospital with patients standing in front of it. These patients have been exposed to Yellow Fever, but did not succumb to it.

Over 5,000 died during the war. Of those, fewer than 400 had been killed in battle or died of wounds. The remainder succumbed to disease. About seven percent of the US forces contracted typhoid, a highly infectious disease demanding intensive nursing care. Troops and nurses (especially those in Cuba) were exposed to malaria and to yellow fever, which was carried by a certain type of mosquito.

Twenty-one female Army contract nurses died in the line of duty during the war era. Most of them died from exposure to typhoid.