the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 started in august.
the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 started in august.
when did the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 start?
august
in the spring of 1793, french colonial refugees, some with slaves, arrived from cap français, saint-domingue. the 2,000 immigrants were fleeing the slave revolution in the north of the island. they crowded the port of philadelphia, where the first yellow fever epidemic in 30 years began in the city in august. it is likely that the refugees and ships carried the yellow fever virus and mosquitoes. it is transmitted during mosquito bites. the mosquitoes easily breed in small amounts of standing water. the medical community and others in 1793 did not understand the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of yellow fever and other diseases. physicians and other survivors of the epidemic wrote extensively about it trying to learn from the crisis.
1793 philadelphia yellow fever epidemic
after two weeks and an increasing number of fever cases, dr. benjamin rush, a doctor's apprentice during the city's 1792 yellow fever epidemic, saw the pattern; he recognized that yellow fever had returned. rush alerted his colleagues and the government that the city faced an epidemic of "highly contagious, as well as mortal... bilious remitting yellow fever." adding to the alarm was that, unlike with most fevers, the principal victims were not the very young or very old. many of the early deaths were teenagers and heads of families in the dockside areas. believing that the refugees from saint-domingue were carrying the disease, the city imposed a quarantine of two to three weeks on immigrants and their goods, but was unable to enforce it as the epidemic increased its reach.
1793 philadelphia yellow fever epidemic