Armstrong – Table of Contents

Griffin who had succumbed earlier to typhus. The USPHS physicians, Drs. Waller and
Tappan who had diagnosed the outbreak, remained to act in an advisory capacity.
Prior to Armstrong’s arrival Dr. Newberne had begun improvising delousing operations.
The initial equipment consisted of a few tubs, 300 gallons of a distillate consisting of
50% coal oil (kerosene) and 50% gasoline, a barrel of vinegar and one tent. The
delousing process consisted of stripping and painting the individuals with distillate, and,
either dipping the clothing in the distillate or boiling it. The vinegar mixed with the
distillate was used on the heads to assist in loosening nits.
The process was crude and unpleasant for many of the Navajo since headaches
and dizziness frequently followed the distillate baths. Skin irritation in the form of
blisters occurred commonly if the subjects dressed before the distillate evaporated from
the clothing. This method deloused about 700 to 1,000 Navajo before more humane
methods were adapted with the availability of suitable equipment.
While waiting for the construction of more efficient and more humane delousing
equipment and methods, the team directed its attention to educating the Navajos about the
nature of the disease, and the isolation and treatment of cases. Through the reservation
police and trading posts, the team summoned, at regular times, inhabitants of the infected
areas to gather for instruction regarding the “new sickness.” The inhabitants gathered
together willingly in well attended meetings. Inasmuch as the reservation residents did
not grasp the scientific basis of the infection, the team appealed to their prejudices by
telling them that the lice imported from hated Mexico caused the disease. At the meetings
the team instructed the residents about the benefits of bathing, the frequent use of boiling
water for killing lice on clothing and the use of coal oil (kerosene). The team also