Misery and Death in the Pearl of the Pacific: Health Care in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1870-1925

Resumen

IN 1875, U.S. Consul Charles Weile requested a leave of absence from his post in Guayaquil, due to the rapidly approaching rainy, sickly Guayaquil winter. When the State Department denied Weile's request, he quit. He proved difficult to replace. Richard McAllister, Jr., politely refused the post, citing the city's poor health reputation. Alexander McLean took the job, but he soon asked for a transfer. In explaining, he wrote, I have had the fever here twice during my incumbency [of less than a year], and my family have all been afflicted. One new U.S. minister to Ecuador, Thomas Biddle, never made it to his post in Quito, falling victim to fever soon after debarking in Guayaquil. Wrote the U.S. consul who was sending back the