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saka image 2 2 - Letter sent by the Chief of the French Medical Mission in Serbia, Dr Jaubert with - text: “Chief of the French Medical Mission"), in the lower left corner of the letter Jor France, carries the mark of the Embassv of France in Serbia, reading "Legation de France en Serbie”, with RF (Republique de francaise) in the middle (by courtesy of Mr. J. Bourguignat).

The work of ali missions was coordinated and controlled by the International Board for introducing sanitary measures for preventing the infection, formed previously by Ralph Padgett and an American, Dr Richard Strong. Upon arriving in Nis, Colonel Jaubert became full member of that team. The doctors of the French Medical Mission received the area of Old and New Serbia, except for Skopje and Bitola. Nis was the center of the Mission and the whole Serbia was divided in seven medical sectors in which the French doctors were allocated upon their arrival, namely: Belgrade, Uzice, Valjevo, Krusevac, Kragujevac, Zajecar and Nis. In each of these cities was a doctor — Chief of the sector. From these cities, the

French doctors, traveling on horses, mules and carts, visited the farthest villages in their working areas (17).

Nis was the focal point of the epidemic. The memoire literature stated: “Nis was a gloomy city. The black flag few on many houses, indicating the presence of death. You could hear every day the Chopin's

Funeral March, sometimes even several times a day, played by the military band that saw off the dead soldiers at the military cemetery.

Particularly interesting was the view related to the work of medical missions, given by Ch. Vopicke, Ambasador of the United States for the Balkans in that period, the period in which the United States were still neutral: “It is a special pleasure for me to be able to state that the medical mission ofthe USA, France and England cooperated in perfect harmony to help the unfortunate... for these were the dark days for Serbs. While they exercised victory on the battlefield, at home, their parents, women and children died of typhus and other diseases”. (3).

We shall not go into this part of the medical history in these arcas., as there is an extensive literature related to it. To those who would like to know more, we would suggest the comprehensive work of a