![In Fraubrunnen (Canton of Bern), foot-and-mouth disease raged in 1919/1920. The ‘diseased letter’ shown was therefore disinfected.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/post-titel-300x225.jpg)
Disinfected letters
From cholera to coronavirus – epidemics have always had an impact on the postal service in Switzerland. A look back at the PTT archives shows how crisis situations were dealt with in the past.
Powerless against the flu
![In July 1918, the national postal bureau (Oberpostdirektion) instructed its district offices to collect statistics on flu cases.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/grippe-statistik-300x236.jpg)
![The Spanish flu also took its toll on telecommunications.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/telegraf-230x300.jpg)
Epidemics and creatures great and small
![Post offices in farmhouses, like this one in Suberg, were not uncommon in the early 20th century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/post-suberg-300x229.jpg)
![Foot-and-mouth disease continued intermittently to cause restrictions in postal services. The photo shows a postman making deliveries in Root (Canton of Lucerne) in 1966.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/bannzone-300x298.jpg)