Typhus

Typhus

Typhus arrived in Europe in 1489 with soldiers who had been fighting in Cyprus. The disease is transmitted to humans by mites, lice and fleas. Symptoms include fever and red spots over arms, back and chest. An outbreak in 1557-59 killed about 10% of the English population. Typhus mainly killed poor people living in places where sanitary conditions were very bad. It was also a common disease in prisons and for this reason typhus was also known as gaol fever. The typhoid bacillus was first identified in 1880 and can now be successfully treated with antibiotics.

Primary Sources

(1) Edwin Chadwick, The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population (1842)

Number of Deaths in 1838 and 1839

Disease

1838

1839

Typhus

24,577

25,991

Smallpox

16,268

9,131

Measles

6,514

10,937

Whooping Cough

9,107

8,165

Consumption

59,025

59,559

Pneumonia

17,999

18,151