A Case of Infectious Fever

Home Education Primary Sources A Case of Infectious Fever

A Case of Infectious Fever

At the center of this 1820 cartoon, a man lying face-down on a bed vomits into a bucket, groaning "drunk drunk oh lord." He is surrounded by doctors and officials from the New York Board of Health, who are convinced that he has yellow fever and who ignore the African American servant woman, standing to the left of the bedside, who explains that the patient is merely drunk.