Schultheisz Emil: Traditio Renovata. Tanulmányok a középkor és a reneszánsz orvostudományáról / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 21. (Budapest, 1997)

24. Short history of epidemics in Hungary until the Great Cholera Epidemic of 1831

Z^oo¡ Heavy epidemics in Hungary after the middle of the XVIth century Year Place Denomination of epidemic disease Important consequences of the disease 1686 Buda dysentery? The Christian army took the city, but the epidemic took many vitims among its ranks 16901692 country-wide plague Plague decree of Leopold I. The plague was introduced by wounded soldiers brought home from Belgrade. 30,000 dead in the army of Eugene of Savoy 1698 towns in Transsylvania plague 1700 Southern Hungary, Transsylvania plague Succesful measures protect the army from the epidemic 1706 Transsylvania plague 1707 along the Danube malaraia 17081711 country-wide plague, pox More than half million dead. The fight for independence of prince Rákóczi fails owing to the epidemics ravaging his armies 1713 Pozsony plague 17111719 Transsylvania plague Almost half of the population dies 1724 Transsylvania and Sopron pox 17371740 Transsylvania, later country wide plague Introduced by Austrian armies infected with plague from Moldavia into Transsylvania 1742 country-wide plague 1744 country-wide plague Last country-wide epidemic of plague; 310,000 dead 1755— 1756 County Bereg, Transsylvania plague 4,000 dead 1758— 1759 Southern Hungary, Transsylvania syphilis 1770— 1771 Transsylvania plague Less mortality 1795 Transsylvania plague Appears only sporadically This last epidemic of plague was followed by the occurence of several epidemic diseases of a local character (both forms of typhoid fever, malaria, pox etc.), but their economic, moral and military effect was far from that of the preceeding plague or that of the epidemic of cholera, which broke into Hungary in 1831. Ruthenians transporting salt near the border of Galicia introduced it into Hungary in 1831. The preventive measures of the council of the governor-general remained rather unsuccesful. On hearing of the epidemic of cholera in Russia the decree containing compulsory sanitary measures and instructions had been issued on December 21, 1830 already; actually it was a modified edition of the plague decrees published in the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. The