I n an innovative paper, Matthew Smallman-Raynor and Andrew Cliff (previously mentioned on War & Health) explore the spread of three infectious diseases (enteric fever, smallpox, and yellow fever) during the Cuban insurrection (1895-1898). The authors extracted geospatial data on infectious diseases from sanitary dispatches from the United States Marine Corps Hospital Service and the US Consular Service. On this historical data, the authors run GIS analysis to determine the spatial relationship between infectious diseases and the political conflict.
The authors reached a number of conclusions. First, the war caused populations to condense, facilitating the spread of disease. Second, the war created increased transmission rates. Third, fighting increased the speed at which the diseases spread. Fourth, (and most important for readers of War & Health) the spread of disease was shaped by the location of hostilities. That is, disease spread with the fighting.
A central argument on this site is that health in conflict zones can only be understood through an appreciation for the dynamics of the conflicts themselves. Smallman-Raynor and Cliff’s fourth conclusion lends unequivocal support for this claim.
Source:
Smallman-Raynor, Matthew, and Andrew D. Cliff. 1999. “The Spatial Dynamics of Epidemic Diseases in War and Peace: Cuba and the Insurrection against Spain, 1895-98.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 24(3):331-352.
Christopher Albon is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in armed conflict, public health, human security, and health diplomacy.
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