EPIDEMICS

EPIDEMICS

in New York State

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These are some links for Epidemics in the US and specifically in NY State in our country's early history.

(A majority of this information below, is from the NY Epidemics link, listed above)

1/1/1668, NY, New York, Yellow fever
Probably the earliest recorded epidemic of yellow fever non-tropical America, striking New York in late summer and early fall of 1668, and described as an "autumnal bilious fever in infectious form". The contemporary descriptions leave some possibility open that it could have been some other disease, but yellow fever seems the most likely.

1690 - New York:- Yellow Fever

1/1/1702, NY, New York, Yellow fever
Yellow fever struck New York, killing more than 500 people over a three-month period, which was probably about 10% of the population at the time.

1/1/1743, NY, New York, Yellow fever

1743-1745 Yellow fever struck New York again. A correlation with the dockyard areas was noticed, but mosquitoes were still not recognized as the vector.

1/1/1788, NY, New York, Measles

1/1/1789, NY, New York, Influenza (flu)
A widespread epidemic of influenza hit New England, New York and Nova Scotia in fall 1789. Most deaths appear to have been from secondary pneumonia.

1/1/1803, NY, New York, Yellow fever

1/1/1834,NY, New York, Cholera

1/1/1849, NY, New York, Cholera

1/1/1863, NY, New York, Cholera
1863-66 The fourth cholera pandemic of the 19th century began in India in 1863, spread first to the middle east, and then into the Mediterranean. It arrived in New York on a ship coming from France in October 1865, and spread rapidly. Public health reform kept the death toll lower than in previous epidemics, but there were tens of thousands of deaths nonetheless. Another wave swept through the south and mid-west in 1873, hitting particularly hard in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

1/1/1868,NY, New York, Smallpox

1868 - 1875 Smallpox outbreaks hit New York, Philadelphia and other cities, and it was discovered that many children had not been vaccinated. The New York City Board of Health recommended that all residents be vaccinated in 1870, but there was widespread public resistance, since the vaccine itself was not without risk, and people perceived the campaign as creating a panic situation and allowing doctors to profit from it.

1/1/1901,NY, New York, Smallpox

1901 - 1903 Smallpox had its last major outbreak in the urban northeast U.S., beginning in New York and spreading through other major cities.

1/1/1907, NY, New York, Polio
1907-1916 Polio turned into a major problem in the U.S., with about a thousand cases in New York in 1907, and another outbreak in 1911. The disease was recognized as contagious, but there was no understanding yet of exactly how it was spread. The first widespread outbreak, seriously affecting 26 states, occurred in 1916. About 7,000 deaths were recorded.

1918 March - Nov Spanish influenza

nationwide: outbreak of Spanish influenza killed over 500,000 people in the worst single U.S. epidemic. US Army training camps during WW I, became death camps with influenza, with about an 80 percent death rate in some camps.

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