Plague law or martial law?: Sinaloa and Baja California, 1902-1903

This paper analyzes the social importance of the plague epidemic that caught Sinaloa and Baja California, Mexico, in 1902 and 1903. It describes the health campaign that was organized, the first one-in Mexico-based on the recent scientific fields of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine. It was also the first one in which a state turned control of sanitary activities in to the federal government. The author shows that in this campaign, health personnel and political authorities used persuasion and, above all, compulsion, and describes how the population resisted the health measures. She analyzes the contradictions between the different actors of the campaign, explains the causes of its success and points out that the 1902-1903 campaign against plague became a model for further health campaigns in Mexico.