Technician Removing Fleas from Rats to Make Injection Fluid

ID: 449 ~ Source: Image Courtesy of the Louisiana Division/City Archives, New Orleans Public Library. ~ Date: 1936

This file appears in: Wharf Rats, the Plague, and Public Health

Technician Removing Fleas from Rats to Make Injection Fluid

As part of the WPA project, a technician removes fleas from a rat in order to create an injection that will protect against Typhus.

This file appears in: Wharf Rats, the Plague, and Public Health

Wharf Rats, the Plague, and Public Health

By Alison Laurence & John Lee

New Orleans has been a major port since the early 18th century. Until the 1960's, warehouses stood along this part of the river. These warehouses, or wharves, used to teem with the infamous "wharf rats" that infested the area's…