The Great Enchephelis Scare of 1959

Two comments were recently posted on the Blog regarding the encephalitis scare of 1959. They are reprinted below.

Didn't the encephalitis outbreak occur in 1959? My grandmother Estella Harris Adams Mathis died in the fall of 1959 and my grandfather "Boot" Mathis told my mother not to bring my sisters to NG because the outbreak was affecting both the very young and the very old. Mosquito spray was being distributed to everyone, too.

Beverly Mathis Robinson

1959 sounds right. I was four years old at that time living on Marine St in Tuckerton. The little boy across the street died from it. I remember my parents not allowing us to go outside to play and wrapping us in blankets to carry us to and from the car when we went to New Gretna to visit 'Memom', 'Pepop', 'Mom mom '& 'Francy' (AKA Lizzie Mathis, Joseph Mathis, Virginia Gray Sears & Francis Sears)

As young children my brothers and I used to like the smell of the mosquito spray from the trucks that dispersed it around town.

Cindy Gray Dickey

Seems that Beverly and Cindy are pretty much on target. The great Encephalitis Scare did occur in 1959. The following newspaper article deals with the scare. Unfortunately I don't know what newspaper it came from (It would either be the Tuckerton Beacon or the Atlantic City Press.) Nor do I have the exact date, except that it definately was in 1959.

In order to fit the entire article in the narrow format of the Blog, I had to divided it into multiple sections, so that it is readable. Sorry about that, but that's the function of the Blog program.

Renard "Jack" Wiseman spraying for mosquitoes during the Great Enchephelis Scare of 1959.

How many of our Blog readers can remember the Great Encephalitis Scare of 1959? I know Rickie "White Shoes" Steele and Mike Allen should have some recollections, as their mothers, Mrs. Clarence Steele and Elaine Allen (Mrs. Benjamin Allen), were interviewed in the news article. Let's hear from anyone who has memories of the incident.

Pete S