The myth of Patient Zero: Gaetan Dugas, the so-called Columbus of AIDS, lived briefly in Vancouver. How did the discussion of Dugas contribute to perceptions of AIDS in North America?
Primary Source: Sixty Minutes news program feature:
Secondary Source: Richard A. McKay, Patient Zero: The Absence of a Patients View of the Early North American AIDS Epidemic, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, (Spring 2014), 161-94; and Richard McKay, Patient Zero: Why Its Such a Toxic Term, The Conversation, April 1, 2020, . See also the AIDS Vancouver website: (see 1983 for footage of Gaetan Dugas).
Or if the Black Death is your thing: Here is a special historiography option. You can write your essay on the question below using the two sources listed (one is an essay collection).
