The Woman Who Helped Control the Spread of Tuberculosis in Minnesota

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious and infectious disease. As the Trump administration freezes foreign aid, tuberculosis is resurgent worldwide. In Minnesota, the numbers are falling with 21 Minnesota counties reporting a total of 160 new cases of active tuberculosis last year. But those numbers are still chilling when you consider that there was a time when TB was the leading cause of death. Before antibiotics were discovered and offered a cure for TB, the only weapon available to stop its spread was to identify and isolate the sick.Here in Minnesota beginning in the 1930’s we have woman to thank for helping control the disease in the state: Dr. Kathleen Jordan. Dr. Jordan developed an early form of contact tracing, working to detect the illness before it became active.This was at a time when few women sought careers in medicine. But having contracted the disease herself, Dr. Jordan was on a mission. From her base in Granite Falls, she traveled the state to test mostly children since they were often good predictors of latent TB in the family. Her success in identifying the sick is not simply attributed to her expertise and skill. She had a trustworthy nature that was warm, gentle and grandmotherly. Coupled with a clever way of handling her youthful subjects, she had little trouble convincing Minnesotans of the importance of having their children tested. By the time of her death at the age of 92, she tested over 1.5 million Minnesota children and her pioneering work helped to greatly reduce the number of cases in the state and eradicate the need for sanatoriums. This episode was written and produced by Alison Young. MinneCulture is hosted by John Gebretatose and edited by Julie Censullo. Support for MinneCulture is provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.