From its creation the National Board of Health was doomed to failure. Congress gave this agency very limited authority and funding, and placed a 4 year limit on its operations. Between 1879 and 1883 the National Board of Health did undertake some valuable research on yellow fever and malaria, but was unable with its lack of enforcement powers and limited funding to deal effectively with the Louisiana State Board of Health, headed by Dr. Joseph Jones, who opposed any infringements on states rights; as well as the recurrence of yellow fever in the Southern cities in 1879. When Congress considered extending the National Board of Health in 1883, this experiment in direct federal intervention in public health had proven a dismal failure.