The study of public health in Louisiana began in the early 19th century, when New Orleans suffered from endemic malaria and almost yearly epidemics of cholera and yellow fever.

Attempts to control tropical diseases led to the establishment of the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834, founded by a group of young practicing physicians.

Samuel Zemurray provided financial support for the founding of the country's first School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at Tulane in 1912.

As part of his work in Honduras, Zemurray contracted with United Fruit Company, which was also one of the first financial backers of the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

It was hailed by academicians nationally and internationally as the first such school in the United States, where tropical diseases had had devastating effects, particularly in the South.

[citation needed] [21] Tulane's Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is located at 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana in the Central Business District neighborhood.