As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I was reading accounts of German immigrants from Russia being denied entry into the United States due to an eye infection and it puzzled me as to what exactly these people were susceptible to and what this disease was.
In modern Obama Trump eras, they let in ebola, TB and anything else that will kill Americans, but when America was about protecting Americans, the hammer came down with diseases and if you worked years for that 200 dollar ticket to get to America, there were no refunds, and no sitting around getting free treatment in 1890 AD in the year of our Lord. It was back on the boat and stuck somewhere in Antwerp or the Canary Islands.
The disease apparently was called Trachoma, a for of pink eye would could lead to blindness.
Trachoma - Wikipedia
Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of the eyes, and eventual blindness.Hygiene-related Diseases | Hygiene-related Diseases | Hygiene ...
Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness of infectious origin (1). Caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, trachoma is easily spread through direct personal contact, shared towels and cloths, and flies that have come in contact with the eyes or nose of an infected ...https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/disease/trachoma.
It was amazing to read these accounts as there was zero humanitarian effort on America's part. A German from Russia had an eye infection, they were kicked out of the country, and that included being separated from their families.
I read of one account where a little girl of 15 who was deported with her mother. Her mum died on the voyage back to Europe where the little girl was stuck in Antwerp Belgium. She worked three years to get a fare back to America, where upon she was booted from America again, worked two more years and learned she could get into America more easily through Canada, via Winnipeg, whereupon that route, she joined her family finally in North Dakota.
In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act designating funds for the eradication of the disease. Immigrants who attempted to enter the U.S. through Ellis Island, New York had to be checked for trachoma. During this time treatment for the disease was by topical application of copper sulfate. By the late 1930s, a number of ophthalmologists reported success in treating trachoma with sulfonamide antibiotics.
As you can see treating people with eye diseases began in the 20th century, but then it was Jews who were arriving in droves, and the Germans were not the primary group as America was importing radicals to promote communism then as America was out of homestead lands.
Just another history lesson from the Lame Cherry in matter anti matter exclusives.
agtG