Event Summary

The cholera outbreak in 1849, originating somewhere in Europe, traveled all the way across the Atlantic Ocean though infected sailors. One of these trading ships was actually quarantined soon after its arrival on Staten Island; however, a few of the passengers escaped. Following the incident, cases of cholera began to emerge in the slums of the Five Points section of NYC. It was the beginning of spring when the spread of cholera began to pick up speed; by the end of that year approximately 5000 lives were lost.