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