The 1905 Yellow Fever Outbreak in New Orleans: Outbreak Creates a Public Relations Opportunity

The discovery of yellow fever in New Orleans in 1905 triggered a variety of public health responses. Public health officials in New Orleans initiated a public health campaign targeting mosquito breeding opportunities and quarantined inbound ships arriving from tropical ports. Some public health officials outside of New Orleans responded with quarantines of all traffic originating in New Orleans and, at times, embargoed all traffic from Louisiana. The public reacted differently assigning blame for the outbreak on the tropical fruit trade with the United Fruit Company drawing particular attention from some members of the public.

Needing to change public perception and hoping to influence future public health responses, United Fruit initiated a public relations campaign in the form of a goodwill tour of tropical fruit ports and countries in 1906. Participants in the tour included various American public health officials, an embedded reporter, and a professional photographer. The presence of a reporter and photographer throughout the tour establish the tour as a public relations response to the challenges of the outbreak.

Through the goodwill tour, United Fruit was able to foster an image of being a benevolent agent for change in tropical countries through which tropical diseases could be better managed if not eliminated. More importantly from a public relations standpoint, the public health officials that participated in the tour offered positive opinions about United Fruit’s ability to safely conduct the tropical fruit trade without risk to the American public. That lack of risk was central to United Fruit’s argument that tropical fruit was, in fact, safe for the American consumer.