AN EXHAUSTIVE COUGH

Whooping cough took over the United States in the 20th century with hundreds of thousands of cases being reported every year. This cough is caused by a respiratory tract infection known as Bordetella pertussis (a bacteria), which is highly contagious and dangerous for infants.

In July of 1955, the CIA conducted open air biological experiments on Hemophilus pertussis – a strain of bacteria that causes whooping cough – near Tampa Bay, Florida to test its mortality and inhabitants of this area were unaware of the ongoing procedures being conducted on them. These experiments resulted in a dramatic increase of whooping cough cases in the area within one year. In 1954, there were approximately 339 reported cases of the illness with one death in Florida, and by the following year, the number of cases increased to 1,080 with 12 deaths. In previous years, the number of cases increased to about 300 percent due to ongoing activities by the CIA.

The victims experienced common symptoms associated with the illness, such as intense coughing, fatigue, sore throats, and a slight fever. Most were able to recover from the incident thanks to vaccines that were present at the time; however, not everyone was vaccinated resulting in a dozen deaths. The CIA released these documents but has made no comment on the report to this day.

​

References:

​

CIA. (2009). Scientific Abstract. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP86-00513R001343720008-3.pdf

Millward. (2019). Vaccinating Britain: Mass vaccination and the public since the Second World War. Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526126764

Richards, B. (1979). Report suggests CIA involvement in Fla.. illnesses. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/12/17/report-suggests-cia-involvement-in-fla-illnesses/5b10205e-170b-4e38-b64e-2e9bca8f50df/