Read the passage from The American Plague. The reemergence of the deadly disease did not stop people from returning to the city. It did, however, leave a lingering sense of helplessness. Well into December, individuals were still succumbing to the fever, and Thomas Jefferson was worrying over which houses were safe to enter. "Yellow fever," he predicted, "will discourage the growth of great cities in the nation." The central idea of the passage is that Jefferson was worried about which houses were safe. the nation was growing. the plague still worried people as winter approached. people came back to the city.