Dear Lars,
Cholera, like many of the communicable infectious diseases, has
been present ever since man began to form community structures. Remeber,
this vibrio disease is generally spread via sewage-contaminated water, so
anywhere people congregate and utilize untreated water supplies, the
possibility of an outbreak of this disease exists. It was definately a
scourge in the middle ages, though it is unlikely that it was commonly
reported- remember, people believed then and for many years after that
life could arise spontaneously, and that disease could result from such
varied circumstances as witchery, bad blood, and the breathing in of
miasmas (which, by the way, is probably how malaria got its name). Though I
don't remember the exact year this came out, the BBC produced a marvelous
series of videos entitled "Plagues" which would be of interest to you.
You can be quite certain that cholera was one of the major reported
plagues of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. I hope this helps.
Joe Roberts
Prince George's Community College
On Tue, 7 Jan 1997, Lars Andrup wrote:
> Dear Bionet.Microbiology
> I'm writing an article (popular science)on microbiology and I would like
> to mention some of the pests of the middle ages. And my question is: is
> cholera that old in Europe?
>> Yours
>> Lars
> --
> *********** ooo O ooo ***********
> Lars Andrup, senior scientist
> Natl. Inst. of Occupational Health, Denmark
> tlf.:+45 3929-9711 fax: +45 3927 0107
> *********** ooo O ooo ***********
>
