1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic

During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, five thousand or more people are listed in the official register of deaths between August 1 and November 9.

The vast majority of them die of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of  fifty thousand people one of the most severe in United States history.

By the end of September, twenty thousand eople have fled the city.

The mortality rate peaks in October, before frost finally kills the mosquitoes and brings an end to the epidemic in November.

Doctors try a variety of treatments, but know neither the origin of the fever nor that it is transmitted by mosquitoes (which will not be verified until the late nineteenth century).

The mayor and a committee of two dozen organized a fever hospital at Bush Hill and other crisis measures.

The assistance of the Free African Society was requested by the city and readily agreed to by the members, based on the mistaken assumption that native Africans would have the same partial immunity to the new disease as many had to malaria, the most common source of fever epidemics during the summer months.

Black nurses aided the sick and the group's leaders hired additional men to take away corpses, which most people would not touch. Blacks in the city died at the same rate as whites, about two hundred and forty altogether.

Some neighboring towns refuse to let refugees in from Philadelphia, for fear they are carrying the fever.

Major port cities such as Baltimore and New York had quarantines against refugees and goods from Philadelphia although New York sent financial aid to the city.

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