Typhus epidemic in Gelsenkirchen, 1901
The typhus epidemic in Gelsenkirchen left 3,200 sick people and several 100 dead. Robert Koch acted in an advisory capacity to fight the epidemic in Gelsenkirchen . In December 1901, the association for combating common diseases in the Ruhr coal area was founded, which set up the hygiene institute of the Ruhr area . In 1904 a procedure was opened to determine who was responsible for the disaster. The water supply company had added contaminated water to the drinking water, which had led to the spread of typhus .