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Map of the historical and current Iditarod trails; the route taken during the 1925 serum run is shown in green.. The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the US territory of Alaska by 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs across 674 miles (1,085 km) in 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 days, saving the small ...
Nollner gained historical recognition as one of the mushers in the 1925 serum run to Nome, often referred to as the "Great Race of Mercy". This relay of dog sled teams transported diphtheria antitoxin across nearly 700 miles of harsh Arctic terrain to combat an outbreak in Nome, Alaska. The epidemic posed a serious threat to the population, and ...
The historic trek to neutralize the diphtheria epidemic in Nome. Diphtheria is an airborne disease that causes a thick, suffocating film to develop at the back of the throat; it was once a leading cause of death for children. The antitoxin used to treat it was developed in 1890, and a vaccine in 1923; it is now exceedingly rare in the U.S.
In 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria threatened Kaasen's adopted home, and the disease could easily spread across the northern Alaska villages of which Nome was the hub. The Iñupiaq children in particular had no immunity to the "white man's disease". The port was frozen. No train routes or regular roads extended to the northern coast of Alaska.
The discovery of gold around Nome brought thousands of people over this route beginning in 1908. Roadhouses for people and dog barns sprang up every 20 or so miles. By 1918 World War I and the lack of 'gold fever' resulted in far less travel. The trail might have been forgotten except for the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome.
A diphtheria outbreak struck Seppala's town of Nome, Alaska in the winter of 1925. Previously unexposed children as well as adults were at risk of dying from the infection. Seppala's only child—an eight-year-old daughter named Sigrid—was also at risk. The only treatment available in 1925 was diphtheria antitoxin serum.
Balto (c. 1919 – March 14, 1933) was an Alaskan husky and sled dog belonging to musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala.He achieved fame when he led a team of sled dogs driven by Gunnar Kaasen on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the ...
A native of Wales, Alaska, a village about 100 miles northwest of Nome, Florence had moved to Nome in 2013. She was last seen leaving a tent on West Beach, just outside of Nome, around 4pm on ...