How did tropical disease affect the French effort to build the Panama Canal?

Tropical diseases, specifically malaria and yellow fever, were a devastating factor in the French attempt to construct the Panama Canal.12

During the French effort, which began in 1881 under Ferdinand de Lesseps, these diseases decimated the workforce. The project was plagued by a lack of understanding regarding how these illnesses were transmitted and controlled, leading to an estimated loss of over 20,000 lives. This massive human toll, combined with engineering difficulties and financial instability, contributed significantly to the collapse of the French company in 1889.321

Unlike the later American effort, which successfully implemented medical precautions to manage disease transmission, the French project struggled against the harsh realities of the tropical environment, ultimately rendering their attempt to build a sea-level canal unsuccessful.132