Impact of the Cholera Epidemic of 1867–1868 on the Global Excess Deaths of the Resident Population in the Province of Córdoba

Abstract

Cholera, a disease originating in India, until the beginning of the 19th Century had rarely manifested itself in the West. The disease arrived in Argentina for the first time in an epidemic form in 1859. Since that date, cholera has entered the country on other occasions and spread to the interior, causing serious disorders, which sometimes added to other tragic events, such as the War of Paraguay or the yellow fever epidemic. The aim of this study was to calculate the excess deaths associated with the cholera epidemic from 1867 to 1868 in the province of Córdoba, a population of more than 175,000 inhabitants. Parish data on excess deaths precisely respond to this need. The excess mortality associated with the cholera epidemic was calculated as being seven times higher than the previous year; that is, the number of deaths from the disease was 1767 cases in the province of Córdoba. During the peak of the disease, in January 1868, mortality rose to 12.2 times higher. Excess deaths are an essential measure to monitor the impact of the epidemic.