ARTICLE: Public health as the engine of commerce-the story of the Panama Canal

[Marisel Brown]

A second entrance linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans is under construction in the Republic of Panama.  The first such effort began in 1881 when Ferdinand de Lesseps, having completed the Suez Canal, began dredging to build the Panama Canal.  However the loss of nearly 3,500 workers each year due to yellow fever ended the French project in 1889.

"The story of the Panama Canal is a passionate one. It is the story of an impassioned and persistent struggle against the forces of nature, marked with the blood, sweat, and tears of tens of thousands of laborers. Engineering challenges, political turmoil, and bureaucratic headaches each added its own seasoning to an already spicy and exciting chapter in history.  There were many starts and stops before scientists, sanitary engineers, and canal builders would come to agree that the biggest enemy was actually so small as to pass unnoticed, yet it was so powerful that it very nearly destroyed the centuries-old dream of a passage connecting the world’s two greatest oceans."

Read No Small Enemyby Harry Castro Stanziola for the complete story.