The
first cholera pandemic occurred in the Bengal region of India, near
Calcutta (now Kolkata), starting in 1817 through 1824. The disease dispersed from India to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Eastern Africa through trade routes. The
third pandemic erupted in 1846, persisted until 1860, extended to North Africa, and reached South America, for the first time specifically affecting Brazil. The
fourth pandemic lasted from 1863 to 1875, and spread from India to Naples and
Spain, and to the United States in 1873. The
fifth pandemic was from 1881 to 1896 and started in India and spread to Europe, Asia, and South America. The
sixth pandemic started in India and lasted from 1899 to 1923. These epidemics were less fatal due to a greater understanding of the cholera bacteria. Egypt, the Arabian peninsula, Persia, India, and the Philippines were hit hardest during these epidemics, while other areas, such as Germany in 1892 and Naples from 1910 to 1911, also suffered severe outbreaks. The
seventh pandemic originated in 1961 in Indonesia and is marked by the emergence of a new strain, nicknamed
El Tor, which still persists (as of 2019) in developing countries. Cholera did not occur in the
Americas for most of the 20th century after the early 1900s in New York City. It reappeared in the Caribbean toward the end of that century and seems likely to persist.
First, 1817–1824 The
first cholera pandemic, though previously restricted, began in
Bengal, and then spread across
India by 1820. Hundreds of thousands of Indians and ten thousand
British troops died during this pandemic. The cholera outbreak extended as far as
China,
Indonesia (where more than 100,000 people succumbed on the island of
Java alone) and the
Caspian Sea in Europe, before receding. In 1821, it is estimated that up to 100,000 deaths occurred in
Korea.
Second, 1826–1837 in 1835 A
second cholera pandemic reached Russia (see
Cholera Riots),
Hungary (about 100,000 deaths) and
Germany in 1831; it killed 130,000 people in
Egypt that year. In 1832 it reached
London and the United Kingdom (where more than 55,000 people died) and
Paris. In London, the disease claimed 6,536 victims and came to be known as "King Cholera"; in Paris, 20,000 died (of a population of 650,000), and total deaths in France amounted to 100,000. In 1833, a cholera epidemic killed many
Pomo, who are a Californian Native American tribe. The epidemic reached
Quebec,
Ontario,
Nova Scotia, and
New York in the same year, and the Pacific coast of North America by 1834. In the center of the United States territory, it spread through the cities linked by the rivers and steamboat traffic. In Washington D.C.
Michael Shiner, an enslaved laborer at the
Washington Navy Yard recorded, "The time the colery [cholera] broke out in about June and July August and September 1832 it Raged in the City of Washington and every day they wher [were] twelve or 13 carried out to they [their] graves a day." By late July 1832, cholera had spread to Virginia and on 7 August 1832, Commodore
Lewis Warrington confirmed to the Secretary of the Navy
Levi Woodbury cholera was at the
Gosport Navy Yard, "Between noon of that day, [1 August] and the morning of Friday [3 August], when all work on board her
USS Fairchild stopped, several deaths by cholera occurred and fifteen or sixteen cases (of less violence) were reported." The epidemic of cholera, cause unknown and prognosis dire, had reached its peak. Cholera afflicted Mexico's populations in 1833 and 1850, prompting officials to quarantine some populations and fumigate buildings, particularly in major urban centers, but nonetheless the epidemics were disastrous. In response to the
second cholera pandemic, the
Ottoman Empire and
Egypt reformed their quarantine systems, following the western Mediterranean model. In 1831, the Egyptian Quarantine Board was established. It constructed Egypt's first modern lazaretto in
Alexandria in 1833. In 1831, the Ottoman government set up the first permanent quarantine complex in
Istanbul. In 1838, the Ottoman government established the Supreme Council of Health, which oversaw 59 quarantines. While largely useless against cholera, these quarantines shored up the two countries' epidemiological defenses against
bubonic plague. During this pandemic, the scientific community varied in its beliefs about the causes of cholera. In France, doctors believed cholera was associated with the poverty of certain communities or poor environment. Russians believed the disease was contagious, although doctors did not understand how it spread. The United States believed that cholera was brought by recent immigrants, specifically the Irish, and epidemiologists understand they were carrying disease from British ports. Lastly, some British thought the disease might rise from divine intervention.
Third, 1846–1860 for his study of contaminated water as a likely source of cholera during the
1854 Broad Street Cholera outbreak The
third cholera pandemic deeply affected Russia, with over one million deaths. Over 15,000 people died of cholera in
Mecca in 1846. A two-year outbreak began in
England and Wales in 1848, and claimed 52,000 lives. In 1849, a second major outbreak occurred in France. In London, it was the worst outbreak in the city's history, claiming 14,137 lives, over twice as many as the 1832 outbreak. Cholera hit
Ireland in 1849 and killed many of the
Irish Famine survivors, already weakened by starvation and fever. In 1849, cholera claimed 5,308 lives in the major port city of
Liverpool,
England, an embarkation point for immigrants to North America, and 1,834 in
Hull, England. An
outbreak in North America took the life of former
U.S. President James K. Polk. Cholera, believed spread from Irish immigrant ships from England, spread throughout the
Mississippi river system, killing over 4,500 in
St. Louis That year, cholera was transmitted along the
California,
Mormon, and
Oregon Trails as 6,000 to 12,000 are believed to have died on their way to the
California Gold Rush,
Utah and
Oregon in the cholera years of 1849–1855. In 1851, a ship coming from Cuba carried the disease to
Gran Canaria. It is considered that more than 6,000 people died in the island during summer, out of a population of 58,000. In 1852, cholera spread east to the Dutch East Indies and later was carried to Japan in 1854. The
Philippines were infected in 1858 and
Korea in 1859. In 1859, an outbreak in Bengal contributed to transmission of the disease by travelers and troops to
Iran,
Iraq,
Arabia, and Russia. In 1854, an outbreak of cholera in
Chicago took the lives of 5.5 percent of the population (about 3,500 people).
Providence, Rhode Island, suffered an outbreak so widespread that for the next thirty years, 1854 was known there as "The Year of Cholera." In 1853–1854, London's epidemic claimed 10,739 lives. The
1854 Broad Street Cholera outbreak in London ended after the physician
John Snow identified a neighborhood
Broad Street pump as contaminated and convinced officials to remove its handle to prevent people from drawing water there. His study proved contaminated water was the main agent spreading cholera, although he did not identify the contaminant. It would take many years for this message to be believed and fully acted upon.
In Spain, over 236,000 died of cholera in the epidemic of 1854–1855. The disease reached South America in 1854 and 1855, with victims in Venezuela and Brazil. From November 10, 1855, to December 1856, the disease spread through Puerto Rico, claiming 25,820 victims. Cemeteries were expanded to allow for the burial of victims of cholera. In
Arecibo, a large municipality of Puerto Rico, the number of people dying in the streets was so great that the city could not keep up. A man named Ulanga made it his responsibility to collect and carry the dead to the provisional .
Fourth, 1863–1875 The
fourth cholera pandemic of the century began in the
Ganges Delta of the
Bengal region and traveled with Muslim pilgrims to
Mecca. In its first year, the epidemic claimed 30,000 of 90,000 Mecca pilgrims. Cholera spread throughout the Middle East and was carried to Russia, Europe, Africa and North America, in each case spreading from port cities and along inland waterways. The pandemic reached Northern Africa in 1865 and spread to sub-Saharan Africa, killing 70,000 in
Zanzibar in 1869–1870. Cholera claimed 90,000 lives in Russia in 1866. The epidemic of cholera that spread with the
Austro-Prussian War (1866) is estimated to have taken 165,000 lives in the
Austrian Empire, including 30,000 each in Hungary and Belgium and 20,000 in the Netherlands. Other deaths from cholera at the time included 115,000 in Germany, 90,000 in Russia, and 30,000 in Belgium. In London in June 1866, a localized epidemic in the East End claimed 5,596 lives, just as the city was completing construction of its major sewage and water treatment systems (see
London sewerage system); the East End section was not quite complete. Epidemiologist
William Farr identified the
East London Water Company as the source of the contamination. Farr made use of prior work by
John Snow and others pointing to contaminated drinking water as the likely cause of cholera in an
1854 outbreak. Quick action prevented further deaths. In 1867, Italy lost 113,000 lives; and 80,000 died of the disease in Algeria.
Fifth, 1881–1896 , hospital ward According to A. J. Wall, the 1883–1887 part of the epidemic cost 250,000 lives in Europe and at least 50,000 in the Americas. Cholera claimed 267,890 lives in Russia (1892);
120,000 in Spain; 90,000 in
Japan, and over 60,000 in
Persia.
Sixth, 1899–1923 The
sixth cholera pandemic, which was due to the classical strain of O1, had little effect in western Europe because of advances in sanitation and
public health, but major Russian cities and the
Ottoman Empire particularly suffered a high rate of cholera deaths. More than 500,000 people died of cholera in Russia from 1900 to 1925, which was a time of extreme social disruption because of revolution and warfare. Cholera broke out 27 times during the
hajj at
Mecca from the 19th century to 1930. including their revolutionary hero and first prime minister
Apolinario Mabini. A 1905 governmental report mentioned he reappearance of asiatic cholera, characterized that as noteworthy, and described a "very strict marine quarantine" and other measures being imposed in the archipelago to control it. The last outbreak of cholera in the United States was in 1910–1911, when the steamship
Moltke brought infected people from Naples to New York City. Vigilant health authorities isolated the infected in quarantine on
Swinburne Island. Eleven people died, including a health care worker at the hospital on the island. In 1913, the
Romanian Army, while invading
Bulgaria during the
Second Balkan War, suffered
a cholera outbreak that resulted in 1,600 deaths. During the outbreak, due to cholera frequently being spread by immigrants and tourists, the disease became associated with either outsiders or marginalized groups in societies. In Italy, some blamed
Jews and
Romani, while in
British India numerous
Anglo-Indians ascribed the spread of cholera to
Hindu pilgrims, and in the
United States many accused
Filipino immigrants of introducing the disease.
Seventh, 1961–present As of March 2022, the
World Health Organization (WHO) continues to define this outbreak as a current
pandemic, noting that cholera has become
endemic in many countries. In 2017, WHO announced a global strategy aimed at this pandemic with the goal of reducing cholera deaths by 90% by 2030. The
seventh cholera pandemic began in
Indonesia, called
El Tor after the strain, and reached
East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) in 1963, India in 1964, and the
Soviet Union in 1966. From
South America, it spread into Italy by 1973. In the late 1970s, there were small outbreaks in Japan and in the South Pacific. There was an outbreak in
Odessa in July 1970, and there were also many reports of a cholera outbreak near
Baku in 1972, but information about it was suppressed in the Soviet Union. In 1970, a cholera outbreak struck the
Sağmalcılar district of
Istanbul, then an impoverished slum, claiming more than 50 lives. Because this incident was notorious, the district was renamed as Bayrampaşa. Also in August 1970, a few cases were reported in
Jerusalem. ==Other outbreaks==