1912 – The U. S. Public Health Service began its studies on typhoid fever in rural areas

1999 - 1900, United States of America

Frequent explosive outbreaks of typhoid fever in urban areas and the high morbidity and mortality rates in cities attributed to water supplies forced the nation’s attention in the early 1900s to the pollution of rivers and lakes. Congress enacted a law in 1912 authorizing the Public Health Service to conduct investigations of pollution of navigable…