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Vale Middle School Reading Article

Where Are They Now? Diseases That Killed You in Oregon Trail (1110L)

Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES

Read the following article carefully and make notes in the margin as you read.

Your notes should include:

o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main

idea of important sections may serve this purpose.)

o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.

o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.

o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,

support) and choices affect the article.

Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment.

Answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless otherwise instructed.

Student ____________________________Class Period__________________

Notes on my thoughts,

Where Are They Now? Diseases That Killed You in Oregon Trail

reactions and questions as I

read:

You have died of dysentery. These are five words familiar to anyone who has attempted to caulk

a wagon and ford rivers en route to the Willamette Valley. Oregon Trail (the computer game) not

only taught generations of kids about Western migration in 19th-century America, it also

familiarized them with various strange-sounding diseases. Let’s catch up with some of those

diseases and find out if they’re just as nasty today.

Everyone Has Cholera

Then: The number one killer of the actual Oregon Trail, cholera is an infection of the intestines

caused by ingesting the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. Spread through contaminated food or water,

cholera released an enterotoxin that effectively flooded the intestines with excess water. This led

to continual watery diarrhea, causing severe dehydration and often death. The worst outbreaks

occurred on the Oregon Trail in 1849, 1850 and 1852. The only available treatment in the game

was a medicine known as laudanum—understood today to be pure opium.

Now: According to the Centers for Disease Control, cholera remains a global pandemic. Though

there is still no vaccine for the disease (in the U.S.), it can be treated with a regiment of fluids

and electrolytes, as well as antibiotics. The best defense remains stringent sanitation regulations,

a luxury afforded primarily to industrialized countries. The World Health Organization has

recorded recent outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo (July 2011), Haiti (November 2010,

October 2010), Pakistan (October 2010) and a severe outbreak in Zimbabwe (June 2009, March

2009, February 2009, January 2009, December 2008).

Joseph Has Diphtheria

Then: Caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, diphtheria is an airborne bacterial disease. It

usually showed up first in the nose and throat, but could also surface as skin lesions. A gray,

fibrous material would grow over airways, causing difficulty breathing and sometimes

Garrison, L.T. Where are they now? Diseases that killed you in Oregon Trail. Mental_Floss. October 11, 2011

Where Are They Now Diseases That Killed You In Oregon Trail (1110l) - Middle School Reading Article Worksheet