Page 257 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

‫ ˇ אוספי המושבה האמריקנית¨ ספריית הקונגרס וושינגטון‬±π±∂ ‫בית חולים צבאי גרמני במנזר סנט ג‘וזף¨ ירושלים‬
Sisters of St Joseph Convent, transformed into a German military hospital, Jerusalem 1916 | American Colony
collection, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

However, the illness referred to as “the worst blow brought upon Jerusalem” was malaria.
The blood of 27 percent of the population, of all ages, contained evidence of the parasite.
The popular name for malaria is “marsh fever,” and it is transmitted to humans through the
Anopheles mosquito. With no marshes or water sources in Jerusalem, it seemed implausible
that mosquitoes would be found in the area, and it was thus mistakenly assumed that the
chance of contracting malaria was negligible. Dr Ernest W.G. Masterman, who arrived in the
country in 1892 and was associated with the Christian missionary hospital in Jerusalem, was
the first to discover that Jerusalem’s water cisterns were the source of infection for malaria, and
that a specific Anopheles mosquito had adapted itself to breeding in them. It became evident
that there were two types of malaria in Jerusalem, one “benign” and the other “malignant.”
When the origin of the disease was discovered, unsuccessful efforts were made to convince the
population to clean out and properly maintain the water cisterns. The citizenry had difficulty
accepting the idea that the cisterns were the source of malaria, and also depended on them
as their main source of water.

In 1911, the “Hebrew Health Station” was established in Jerusalem, specializing in combatting
malaria, eye diseases, and other infectious diseases. In 1913, the first medical institute in

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