"Social Distancing" Beat Ghetto Typhus Outbreak

Bit left field, but ok.
"Social distancing, rather than a 'miracle', may explain how tens of thousands of Jews survived a typhus outbreak in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, a study found.
Nazi forces ultimately crammed more than 460,00 people into the 1.3 square mile area of the Ghetto, which was created in Occupied Poland in late 1940.
The population in the Ghetto was so high that an average of 9.2 people occupied each individual room — a density up to ten times higher than in any city today.
Between this and its squalid conditions, experts have said that the enclosure presented the 'perfect breeding ground' for the typhus bacteria to spread.
Overall, it is estimated that as many as 120,00 people in the Ghetto were infected by the fever in 1941 — with some 30,000 Jews ultimately dying from the infection alone.
Come October of that year, however — just as the outbreak was expected to intensify as the winter set in — the epidemic suddenly petered out.
This 'inexplicable' turn of events went on to be hailed by the survivors as a miracle.
Using state-of-the-art mathematical modelling and historical documents, experts led from Israel's Tel Aviv University have concluded that a combination of social distancing and community health programmes likely ended the outbreak.
The findings, the team said, underscore the 'critical' importance of the active cooperation of local communities in efforts to defeat epidemics and pandemics — including COVID-19 — rather than relying solely on government regulations.
'With poor conditions, rampant starvation and a population density five to 10 times higher than any city in the world today, the Warsaw Ghetto presented the perfect breeding ground for bacteria to spread typhus,' said lead author Lewi Stone."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8557607/Social-distancing-explain-tens-thousands-survived-typhus-outbreak-Warsaw-Ghetto.html

 

Unfortunately, the author is quite ignorant of history and medicine - as result we have mostly fake history here.

Typhus isn't like the virus by any stretch of the imagination. Typhus is spread by the body louse.
Body lice separated from their host can survive up to a week merrily jumping around - so social distancing won't work. It's simply impossible!
The other vector for spread is clothing and bedding where louse eggs are hiding.

Another fact is the Ghetto health services were controlled and directed by the Germans.
All the anti-typhus regulations and sanitary operations were actually mandated by Germans and Jewish doctors had nothing to say in that.
The Germans even allocated anti-typhus vaccines for the Ghetto. Another kind of vaccine was produced in the Ghetto itself.

According to the Ringelblum Archive, it wasn't the (mostly ineffective) efforts of Jewish doctors and it wasn't the (mostly ineffective) efforts of the Germans:

Lastly, it should be emphasized that for the past 6 weeks, or even z months, we have observed a decrease of the typhoid epidemic. It is a mystery why the epidemic has been retreated, especially if we consider that starvation and poverty in the Jewish district have been increasing with each passing day.
The Ringelblum Archive, after 11 March 1942, Combating Typhus

The reason for all that German care was the simple fact the Warsaw Ghetto (and the other one, Litzmannstadt Ghetto) was a large and vital war material production center.
Among others, The Warsaw Ghetto produced ALL the winter clothing for the Eastern Front! The Germans simply couldn't afford typhus there.