Experience in Eliminating Plague Outbreaks in Japan and Russia in the Early Xx Century

By the beginning of the 20th century, plague was still a terrible enemy of mankind, striking ruthlessly at cities and claiming many lives. However, the causative agent of the disease had already been discovered and the medical community was gradually beginning to develop science-based approaches to sanitary protection, although quarantine in ports was still the main anti-epidemic measure. A number of countries had already established specialized institutions, conducted scientific research, trained specialists in handling pathogens of particularly dangerous infections, and maintained and published reports. In this regard, it seems very useful and instructive to compare the experience of elimination of plague outbreaks in the Japanese and Russian empires. This article, based on extant historical documents, examines the experience of plague outbreaks in the cities of Yokohama and Odessa in 1902. Since both cities are port cities and were often the scene of battles with particularly dangerous infections, such a comparison is the most correct, although rather limited, due to the paucity of extant information. Nevertheless, the results show that quarantine is no longer considered the only measure to combat plague, ceding the pedestal to disinfection, microbiological monitoring and epizootological surveillance. In particular, participants in those events conclude that a plague epizootic on rats is possible, and that the hygienic condition of cities must be improved. Clinical techniques and health education are improved, but failures by the sanitary services of each state are also revealed.