Oscar Costa-Mandry and posthurricane bacillary dysentery

Abstract

After the recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita, outbreaks of waterborne viral and bacterial diseases were expected. Dr. Oscar Costa-Mandry, a Puerto Rican bacteriologist and epidemiologist in the 1930s, identified the relationship between hurricanes and epidemic bacillary dysentery in townships that were directly affected by hurricanes. © 2006 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.