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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website This film depicts the campaign to eradicate Malaria from Sardinia during 1946 to 1950. One of the main aspects of the program was the widespread and continuous use of the pesticide DDT. The use of DDT has been hailed as a miracle drug or decried as another part of toxic colonialism. DDT has low solubility leading to long term threats on the environment and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said DDT is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Malaria; carried by mosquitos, entered the area around 502 BC. Images of Sardinia open the film (1:11). A local watches over livestock (1:23). One of the small villages of the area is highlighted (1:37). Poor Sardinians wash clothes by hand (1:49). Many live a simple and traditional lifestyle indicative of their heritage. A man carves a religious relic by hand (1:58). This area is considered to be the poorest in all of Italy (2:10). Horses drag plows over marshy land (2:17). The land was once lush with trees though much had been cut down subjecting the lands to erosion (2:29). Young Sardinians await medical attention as most suffered from ailments of the poor such as malnutrition (2:49). Youth often fell ill to Malaria at the rate of one child per two child home (3:05) increasing infant mortality rate. One man is pictured sick with Malaria (3:18). Farming equipment sits idle as too many fell too ill too work (3:34). Oranges rot on the vine (3:40). The Flumendosa dam (3:52) was left without workers. A funeral service follows (4:05). The word Malaria means bad air (4:22) though it came from the waters. Mosquito larvae are depicted (4:48) as benign beings until morphing into mosquitos (5:52) feeding from the sick and carrying the disease to others. ERLASS arrived in Calgary; Sardinia’s capital in 1946 (6:11). The Chief of the operation was Dr. John Logan of the Rockefeller Foundation (6:34). UNRRA crates arrive at port filled with DDT and trucks (6:50). A briefing on the mission to wipe out Malaria follows (7:21). Posters with scientific information about the disease are pasted throughout the area (7:42). Men move in with tanks full of pesticides (8:13). One woman is pictured in her home as they spray DDT (8:44). Cards were pinned to the doors and numbers were stenciled on the walls to indicate that it had been sprayed (9:00). Churches and towers were also targeted as they hunted for adult mosquitos (9:12). A prehistoric church is hit (9:22). An aerosol machine was employed to target taller buildings (9:39) as the DDT fog moves up (9:40). By the end of February 1945, all buildings had been hit (9:49). Larvae were still hatching in the waters (10:16) as a mosquito reproduces (10:25). To target the larvae, the island was split into regions (10:44) and further down into sections (10:49). The job was given to the district chiefs (11:11). DDT dissolved in oil was derived from dumps (11:36). They set to spraying across the surface of the waters (11:46). A colony of larvae is tested (12:38). Planes were employed to spray vast swaths of swamps (12:51). Mountainous regions were difficult to target (13:50). This led to the decision to drain and clear every drop of water (13:50). They had to appeal to the Italian government for more funding (14:02). By September of 1948, enough men to supply an army were in Sardinia for the mission (14:18). Workers dig, ditch and burn through the land (14:36). Flame throwers blow fire over the surface of waters (14:39). The Mount of Limbara is seen (14:49). Boulders are uprooted (14:54). Scouts move in behind the army (15:26) to check the breeding locations. Samples are pulled from an area which had been previously sprayed (16:32). An ERLASS vehicle brings the samples to the ERLASS headquarters (16:37). The samples are delivered to the Chief (16:50). Three years later, Malaria was wiped out (17:10). They successfully removed a breed of mosquito which had been living in Sardinia for centuries (17:27). The small village is seen again in the spring of 1950 (17:47). The town crier comes to town to tell the news the town had been Malaria free for a year (18:11). Locals dance in celebration (18:29). Modern machinery is seen at work in the fields (18:50). Swamps became rich farmland (18:57). The Flumendosa dam was completed (19:01). A woman opens her window near an infant which one could not previously do (19:22). This film was produced by the Pathe Documentary Unit in association with Nucleus Film Unit (19:36). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
