The First Cholera Outbreak
Asiatic Cholera
Pandemic of 1817-23
Note: This cholera
pandemic, occurring during John Snow's early life, did not reach the British
isles.
This was the first great
cholera pandemic of the nineteenth century. It was unprecedented in its fury,
affecting almost every country in Asia. While early cases of cholera were
reported from Purneah (now Purnia) in Bihar (state in east India) in early 1816, the
pandemic is believed to have originated in the town of Jessore (near Calcutta) in
August 1817. A civil surgeon, reporting on the high incidence of a severe
gastrointestinal disease among his patients, drew attention to the source of contagion
-- contaminated rice. Amidst attacks of vomiting and diarrhea thousands of
people collapsed and died, including hundreds of British soldiers transiting
through Bengal. Cholera then spread rapidly across the country and, in December 1818,
arrived in Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
