"Co-operation in All Human Endeavour": quarantine and immigrant disease vectors in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in Winnipeg

Abstract

Unlike occurrences of other contagious diseases such as cholera and smallpox, the 1918-19 influenza pandemic did not lead to anti-immigrant backlash, the stigmatization of newcomers as disease carriers, or aggressive quarantine measures focused against immigrant groups. During influenza outbreaks in several major Canadian cities, quarantine was either rejected or was a low-priority containment measure, reluctantly and sceptically employed. Blaming immigrants during the epidemic was not considered enlightened public health practice or good disease containment strategy. Retrospective evaluation of the successes and failures of the fight against influenza concluded that coercive measures such as quarantine did more harm than good. The experience with influenza contributed to new notions of immigrant inclusion in the social body.