"Truly alarming": cholera in 1832.

Abstract

oday, as citizens and health professionals debate the range and type of preparations being made to fight a possible influenza pandemic, 1 there may be lessons to be learned by examining the impact of the 1832 cholera epidemic in Upper (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). Epidemics are episodes in the social and political history of nations and communities 2 that “represent a natural experiment, a kind of strength-of-materials test of the precise relationships among society’s social values, technical understanding, and capacity for public and private response…”. 3 Arguably, the many contemporary concerns about issuing warnings and advice; crafting pandemic plans for allocating personnel, facilities, vaccines and equipment; addressing ethical issues; and determining whether preventive or curative measures will be most effective – part of 21 st century control efforts – have deep historical roots. In 1832, the two colonies along the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes were facing the largest potential influx of immigrants since 1825. But the appearance of cholera in Great Britain in October 1831, after it had caused riots and disorder in Russia and the Baltic ports, 4 meant that a new disease would travel the Atlantic along with the newcomers. Although the 550,000 Lower Canadians and their 220,000 counterparts in Upper Canada were accustomed to aiding immigrants after the long and debilitating voyage, 5 the initial reports of cholera’s high death rate and random transmission patterns raised great concern. What could or should the colonial administrators and colonists do to prepare and to respond if the disease arrived? By analyzing the ways in which roles and responsibilities were divided, describing the logistical challenges and evaluating the impact of social values in shaping the public’s reaction to and the extent of support or resistance to government edicts, we will discover that history reveals multiple layers of epidemics recorded as a single event: the one experienced by leaders, the one experienced by health professionals and the one experienced by citizens and immigrants. When colonial newspapers reported on the 1831 cholera epidemics in western Europe, Lord Matthew Aylmer, the Governor of Lower Canada, 6 began preparations for its arrival. After persuading Bishop Panet to issue a pastoral circular warning habitants not to interact with newcomers who arrived in late fall 1831, 7 Aylmer asked the Quebec Medical Board (QMB) to evaluate options to prevent or control a disease outbreak, 8 including two policies recommended in circulars from the British central board of health – quarantine and sanitation. 4 (p.32-34) The QMB supported both, and in