10. The Second Cholera Pandemic, 1829-1851
Cholera killed more people than any other form of disease in the 19th century, and was extraordinarily well-suited to be carried by the transportation systems of the time. Cholera thrives in areas with crowded conditions, poor sanitation facilities (particularly sewers) and contaminated drinking water. In 1829 a second cholera pandemic emerged, significantly larger than the first which ended five years earlier. It again originated in India, and spread rapidly to cover nearly the entire globe, including most of Africa, Eurasia, Japan and Australia, and both the North and South American continents. By 1831 over 100,000 deaths from the disease had occurred in Russia, and its troops had delivered the contagion to Europe.
At the end of 1831, the disease appeared in the British Isles, first appearing in port cities. In France, over 100,000 died of cholera during the pandemic. It appeared in the United States, in Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, and other cities, reaching the West Coast in 1833. In the United States a movement developed which blamed the spread of the disease on immigration, focused on the Irish in particular. They were supported by doctors in France who published findings that the disease was clearly associated with poverty. Cities across America warned their citizens to avoid cold water, both for drinking and physical contact.