ABSTRACT
In the nineteenth century, epidemics started to spread at a hitherto unprecedented extent. For the first time in history, outbreaks could affect all inhabited continents. Together with human and nonhuman carriers, pathogens travelled around the globe and often entered new regions through the gateway of port cities. Around 1900, the third plague pandemic alarmed health experts worldwide. Due to new knowledge about the plague’s vector, the rat flea, efforts to counter the disease soon focused on the movement of rats. This chapter traces the connections between the plague, port cities, and nonhuman forms of mobility. Through case studies from the developing U.S. overseas empire—Honolulu (Hawai‘i) and San Juan (Puerto Rico)—it analyzes the specific role rats played in the fight against the epidemic and shows how U.S. authorities confronted nonhuman migration in these cities.
