The Epizootic Of 1872—A Surprising Series Of Events!
August 4, 2019 at 7:59 p.m.
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Not a sound was heard in the silent street,
As home from the concert we hurried;
For we found not a street car, carriage or bus,
And we felt considerably worried.
We hailed a driver we used to know
And hurriedly asked the reason;
He said, as he sadly shook his head,
That the horses were all sneezin.
In 1872, horses were like cars and trucks of today. Horses were necessary to move people and products; without horses, commerce would grind to a halt. In late September, a mysterious illness swept through the horse population in Toronto, Canada. It possibly originated in farms outside of Toronto and culminated with fourteen sick horses in one city stable. Then according to one reporter, the disease “ran through the city with remarkable rapidity, sparing scarcely a single animal of this noble species.” There were sick horses everywhere, suffering from hacking coughs, respiratory distress and fatigue. Fortunately few horses died. Surviving horses were unable to work for two weeks or more. This outbreak was the beginning of what came to be known as the Great Epizootic. Following the events in Toronto, the disease spread throughout North America from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts and into parts of Central America. It was the most explosive animal disease ever documented and temporarily suspended transport and trade. Moreover, it was responsible for the infamous fire that consumed Boston in November 1872 because fire equipment was useless without the labor of horses. And it slowed voters on the eve of the election of Ulysses S. Grant. Some cities replaced horses with other animals, including oxen, mules and even people.
Every city the epizootic visited experienced the symptoms of influenza that incapacitated horses, suspending street railway service and local deliveries, temporary shortages of food and other supplies, price gouging, and an inability to arrest the spread of the disease. The disease found ideal conditions in the 1870s: cities filled with thousands of horses kept in cramped, crowded stables. The conditions were environmentally similar when horses were subjected to travel by railroad. As mentioned earlier, horses were the predominant mode of interurban transportation in 19th century cities and lived by the thousands clustered in stables from Montreal to New York City to Galveston, Texas. No large city in 1872-3 relied on any other domestic animals for transportation and other labor more than the horse. Nineteenth century cities in both Canada and the United States shared some common ecological characteristics and structures including the role of the horse. Cities constituted habitats for large numbers of humans and livestock animals. These common characteristics left North American cities vulnerable to the outbreak of animal diseases.
According to a recent article in Environmental History, the Great Epizootic moved like wildfire, burning most fiercely wherever it found ample fuel in the form of horse bodies and the means of reaching those bodies, usually by railroad. The account of the movement, based on analysis of over 480 newspaper accounts and reports published between 1872 and 1873, indicated that the disease appeared in 164 Canadian and US cities and towns, affecting nearly all horses. There are very detailed maps that show the course of travel of the illness included in the article.
It is of interest that in the 19th century, many veterinarians attributed diseases to bad air or filth poisoned by the decomposition of animal and plant matter. However, examining how the disease moved from city to city led experts to conclude that its path was forged by some form of contagion and that logical proof indicates that epizootic influenza spreads only by virtue of its communicability. This was another major step forward toward understanding disease transmission.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Not a sound was heard in the silent street,
As home from the concert we hurried;
For we found not a street car, carriage or bus,
And we felt considerably worried.
We hailed a driver we used to know
And hurriedly asked the reason;
He said, as he sadly shook his head,
That the horses were all sneezin.
In 1872, horses were like cars and trucks of today. Horses were necessary to move people and products; without horses, commerce would grind to a halt. In late September, a mysterious illness swept through the horse population in Toronto, Canada. It possibly originated in farms outside of Toronto and culminated with fourteen sick horses in one city stable. Then according to one reporter, the disease “ran through the city with remarkable rapidity, sparing scarcely a single animal of this noble species.” There were sick horses everywhere, suffering from hacking coughs, respiratory distress and fatigue. Fortunately few horses died. Surviving horses were unable to work for two weeks or more. This outbreak was the beginning of what came to be known as the Great Epizootic. Following the events in Toronto, the disease spread throughout North America from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts and into parts of Central America. It was the most explosive animal disease ever documented and temporarily suspended transport and trade. Moreover, it was responsible for the infamous fire that consumed Boston in November 1872 because fire equipment was useless without the labor of horses. And it slowed voters on the eve of the election of Ulysses S. Grant. Some cities replaced horses with other animals, including oxen, mules and even people.
Every city the epizootic visited experienced the symptoms of influenza that incapacitated horses, suspending street railway service and local deliveries, temporary shortages of food and other supplies, price gouging, and an inability to arrest the spread of the disease. The disease found ideal conditions in the 1870s: cities filled with thousands of horses kept in cramped, crowded stables. The conditions were environmentally similar when horses were subjected to travel by railroad. As mentioned earlier, horses were the predominant mode of interurban transportation in 19th century cities and lived by the thousands clustered in stables from Montreal to New York City to Galveston, Texas. No large city in 1872-3 relied on any other domestic animals for transportation and other labor more than the horse. Nineteenth century cities in both Canada and the United States shared some common ecological characteristics and structures including the role of the horse. Cities constituted habitats for large numbers of humans and livestock animals. These common characteristics left North American cities vulnerable to the outbreak of animal diseases.
According to a recent article in Environmental History, the Great Epizootic moved like wildfire, burning most fiercely wherever it found ample fuel in the form of horse bodies and the means of reaching those bodies, usually by railroad. The account of the movement, based on analysis of over 480 newspaper accounts and reports published between 1872 and 1873, indicated that the disease appeared in 164 Canadian and US cities and towns, affecting nearly all horses. There are very detailed maps that show the course of travel of the illness included in the article.
It is of interest that in the 19th century, many veterinarians attributed diseases to bad air or filth poisoned by the decomposition of animal and plant matter. However, examining how the disease moved from city to city led experts to conclude that its path was forged by some form of contagion and that logical proof indicates that epizootic influenza spreads only by virtue of its communicability. This was another major step forward toward understanding disease transmission.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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