He won the trust of San Franciscans by shifting the government's attack on the plague from the cool remove of the laboratory onto the streets, among the people it affected. When a second epidemic erupted five years later, the more self-possessed and charming Dr. He correctly diagnosed the plague, but because of his quarantine efforts, he was branded an alarmist and a racist, and was forced from his post. An intellectually astute but autocratic scientist, Kinyoun lacked the diplomatic skill to manage the public health crisis successfully. Two months later, the first human case of bubonic plague surfaced in Chinatown.Initially in charge of the government's response was Quarantine Officer Dr. Though the ship passed inspection, some of her stowaways - infected rats - escaped detection and made their way into the city's sewer system. The plague first sailed into San Francisco on the steamer Australia, on the day after New Year's in 1900.
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