oct 25, 1853 - Yellow Fever in New Orleans

Description:

Worst epidemic, which kills approximately 9,000 people
Summer of 1853 mostly hot and dry, but July was warm, gloomy, and rainy
June 10, 1853 first case diagnosed
6 years since the last epidemic
Many thought it was “obsolete”
Newspapers didn’t report cases or outbreak (although they did report increased mosquito activity)
July 23, 1853
> 400 deaths
Reports complaining of street contractors “street contractors, who were so negligent in their duties that human waste coated the streets along with the putrefying carcasses of dogs killed off to prevent the spread of rabies.”
May to October 1853
>8,096 people died
Many fled the city as summer approached • One of the worst epidemics in US history