CHOLERA

CHOLERA. No epidemic disease to strike the United States has ever been so widely heralded as Asiatic cholera, an enteric disorder associated with crowding and poor sanitary conditions. Long known in the Far East, cholera spread westward in 1817, slowly advanced through Russia and eastern Europe, and reached the Atlantic by 1831. American newspapers, by closely following its destructive path across Europe, helped build a growing sense of public apprehension. In June 1832 Asiatic cholera reached North America and struck simultaneously at Quebec, New York, and Philadelphia. In New York City it killed more than 3,000 persons in July and August. It reached New Orleans in October, creating panic and confusion. Within three weeks 4,340 residents had died. Among America's major cities, only Boston and Charleston escaped this first onslaught. From the coastal cities, the disorder coursed along American waterways and land transportation routes, striking at towns and villages in a seemingly aimless fashion until it reached the western frontier. Minor flare-ups were reported in 1833, after which the disease virtually disappeared for fifteen years.

In December 1848 cholera again appeared in American port cities and, on this occasion, struck down more than 5,000 residents of New York City. From the ports it spread rapidly along rivers, canals, railways, and stagecoach routes, bringing death to even the remotest areas. The major attack of 1848–1849 was followed by a series of sporadic outbreaks that continued for the next six years. In New Orleans, for example, the annual number of deaths attributed to cholera from 1850 to 1855 ranged from 450 to 1,448.

The last major epidemic of cholera first threatened American ports late in 1865 and spread widely through the country. Prompt work by the newly organized Metropolitan Board of Health kept the death toll to about 600 in New York City, but other American towns and cities were not so fortunate. The medical profession, however, had learned that cholera was spread through fecal discharges of its victims and concluded that a mild supportive treatment was far better than the rigorous bleeding, purging, and vomiting of earlier days. Moreover,

a higher standard of living combined with an emphasis on sanitation helped to reduce both incidence and mortality. Cholera continued to flare up sporadically until 1868, disappeared for five years, and then returned briefly in 1873. In the succeeding years only sporadic cases of cholera were found aboard incoming vessels, leading to newspaper headlines and warning editorials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crosby, Alfred. Germs, Seeds, and Animals: Studies in Ecological History. Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe, 1993.

Duffy, John. Epidemics in Colonial America. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971.

Rosenberg, Charles. The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.