[Cholera in Bergen in 1848-1849--what caused the epidemic?]

Abstract

In December 1848, a big cholera epidemic broke out in Bergen. It lasted until April 1849, by which time 605 victims had died. The cholera spread by contact from person to person. How it came to Bergen, and how it was introduced into the population however, been open to doubt. This question is subject of this article. Primary sources have been studied and compared with contemporary medical reports. There is no doubt that a schooner from the Dutch city of Vlaardingen brought the cholera to Bergen. A passenger died of cholera on the day before the ship arrived, and was buried in Bergen. How the infection was transmitted to the first victim in the city, a watchman's wife who lived on the outskirts, is more difficult to explain. Later information, telling that she had washed the passenger's clothing, has not been confirmed in the primary sources. Most probably, healthy carriers among the crew transmitted the cholera to the population after the quarantine had been suspended. The watchman's wife need not have been the first one to catch the infection.