Cholera epidemic strikes New York City
- When
- 1848
- Where
- New York City
- Episodes
- 1
The 1848 cholera epidemic in New York City occurred during the third global pandemic. While the legacy record claims 5,000 deaths, the supplied passages do not verify this specific figure or the exact start date. The event is situated within the broader context of the third pandemic, which reached North America and caused significant mortality in other regions, though New York-specific data is absent from the provided evidence.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. The third cholera pandemic, originating in India, persisted from 1846 to 1860. It extended to North Africa and reached North and South America. Researchers at UCLA suggest it may have started as early as 1837. This pandemic was considered to have the highest fatalities of the 19th-century epidemics, with significant outbreaks in England, Wales, and Russia during the late 1840s.
Regional Context. In 1848, a two-year outbreak began in England and Wales, claiming 52,000 lives. The pandemic also affected Russia, where more than one million people died between 1847 and 1851. These events provide the broader epidemiological context for the 1848 period, though specific data for New York City is not present in the supplied passages.
Data Verification. The legacy record asserts a death toll of 5,000 in New York City on January 1, 1848. However, the supplied passages do not contain any specific statistics for New York City. The 5,000 figure and the specific date are therefore unverified by the provided evidence and remain as legacy claims without source support.
Sources
- 1846–1860 cholera pandemic Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23
- Cholera Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.