These days, reports of various epidemics (flu, measles, chickenpox) frequently appear in the Kharkiv media. In the 19th century, epidemics also raged here. One of the most terrifying for the residents of our city was cholera.
In his memoirs, Felix Osipovich von Reingardt describes the cholera epidemic in Kharkiv in 1830. Filaret Gumilevsky also writes about epidemics in his work “Historical and Statistical Description of the Kharkiv Diocese, 1850–1857.” At the end of 1865, another epidemic broke out in our region. In the Kharkiv Governorate, cholera first appeared in Starobil’s’k. It is believed to have been brought there from Taganrog, as there was brisk trade between these cities. However, this assumption could not be confirmed. During the epidemic in Starobil’s’k, from November 13 to 30, 31 people fell ill; 12 recovered, and 19 died. A month later, cholera outbreaks were reported in the Zmiiv District, in the villages of Borova and Ternove, and on December 23, the epidemic began in Kharkiv. The first case was recorded in the Zanetichenskaya district of our city. Subsequently, it was there that cholera raged most fiercely. The number of cases in this district reached 127, while in the rest of the city the total number of cases was about 77. And it was in the Zanetechenskaya district, more often than in other places, that the disease proved fatal. Doctors of that time explained the reason for this as follows:
The Kharkiv and Lopan Rivers are shallow; at a place called Netechya, their water is filled with a multitude of organic substances resulting from the discharge of various types of urban sewage, which, as they decompose, give off a strong stench. Consequently, the air here is always more or less polluted, a condition greatly exacerbated by the marshy and boggy soil of the area, which has developed over the course of its settlement through the filling of swamps with manure and soil; these swamps still exist in many places today as marshy areas and lakes overgrown with reeds. In this part of the city, there is a particularly acute shortage of good water, which is usually supplied from other wells located in the 2nd and 3rd districts of Kharkiv; due to their distance, the poor residents of the Zanetchinskaya district are forced to use poor-quality water, obtaining it from rivers or from wells with water of inferior quality. Such poor conditions in this area greatly contribute to the spread of epidemic diseases and worsen their outcomes. Indeed, according to data collected by the Kharkiv Medical Department of the Provincial Government, this part of the city has long been characterized by outbreaks of intermittent fevers and typhus, and during the cholera epidemics of previous years, by the predominant spread of this disease.
In total, during the cholera epidemic in Kharkiv from December 23, 1865, to March 1, 1866, 252 residents fell ill; of these, 111 recovered and 141 died. Only 118 patients were treated in the cholera ward of the city hospital, of whom 69 died. Such a high mortality rate in the medical facility was due to the fact that patients were not brought to the hospital immediately but only when the disease had progressed to a severe stage. The epidemic peaked in our city between January 15 and 22. During this period, about 80 people contracted cholera, 53 of whom died. With the end of the fair on January 22 and a change in the weather, the epidemic began to subside, and by March 1, it had completely ceased.
The causes of the cholera outbreak in Kharkiv during the winter of 1865–1866 were explained as follows:
1) There is no evidence that the epidemic could have been caused by the disease being brought in from other places. However, it cannot be ruled out that the outbreak of cholera in Kharkiv was linked to the general epidemic that had recently occurred in Taganrog and Rostov.
2) The conditions that contributed to the spread of cholera in our city can be considered to be:
— large crowds during the fair;
— the adverse health effects of prolonged inclement weather, which is unusual for winter;
— the poor sanitary conditions in the Zanetechinskaya district of the city.
3) The following factors contributed to the spread of cholera:
— the crowding of people in cramped quarters (for example, in inns and lodging houses);
— dampness in the rooms, poor air quality, and a lack of cleanliness, as well as other unsanitary conditions;
— the poverty of those who fell ill.
The next, far more devastating cholera epidemic began in Kharkiv and the province a few months later. It raged across our lands from the beginning of summer until November 1. Chronologically, it unfolded as follows: June 23—the outbreak began in Kharkiv; June 28—the first cases appeared in Sumy. Then, on July 2—in the Izyum District; on the 8th—in the Bohodukhiv District; on the 10th—in the Lebedyn District; on the 14th—in the Zmiiv District; on the 18th—in Bohodukhiv; on the 19th—in Lebedyn, on the 20th—in Starobil’s’k, on August 1—in the Valky District, August 8—in Starobil’s’k District, August 10—in Kharkiv District, and September 12—in Vovchans’k District. Thus, the summer cholera epidemic swept across the entire province.
The documents state the following:
The first case of cholera appeared in Kharkiv on June 23; the patient was a cab driver, Ivan Bulatnikov, who had arrived the day before from Yekaterinoslav, where cholera was already present at that time. On the way, he developed mild diarrhea, and upon arriving in Kharkiv, he stayed at Efremov’s inn (on the first block of Moskovskaya Street). A few hours later, severe vomiting joined the diarrhea, and on the 23rd, all the unmistakable signs of cholera became apparent; just as the algidic period was setting in, he was sent to the city hospital, where he recovered on June 28. On that very same day—that is, June 23—a visitor from Taganrog, the cab driver Mikhail Chausov, stayed at the same inn; by evening he began to feel ill, and during the night he suffered from diarrhea and vomiting; the next day (i.e., June 24), he was taken to the city hospital, where he died on the 26th of that same month. Thus, the first two cases of cholera did not, strictly speaking, occur in Kharkiv itself but outside of it, because both coachmen had come from areas where cholera was already present at that time; furthermore, they themselves had been suffering from intestinal disorders even before their arrival, while on the road, though only to a relatively mild degree. It is also noteworthy that they stayed at the same inn and, presumably infected it sufficiently, because a few days later, at that very same inn, Yakov Remizov, a coachman who had arrived from the town of Oboyan, fell ill; he was taken to the hospital that night and died on July 9.
The disease then spread to the hospital staff and to patients receiving treatment at the hospital. Starting on July 10, cholera gradually began to spread among residents of the first and second districts of the city. And on August 1, it appeared in the third district of Kharkiv as well.
In total, about 336 people fell ill during the summer epidemic in our city, most of whom were low-income residents. Members of the middle and upper classes in Kharkiv (nobility, clergy, and merchants) contracted cholera much less frequently. One of the distinctive features of the cholera epidemic of the summer of 1866 was the extremely rapid progression of the disease. In other words, death occurred in most cases on the first or second day of the illness. The epidemic spread diffusely throughout the districts and streets of Kharkiv, covering large areas and numerous streets. For example, there were many cases among residents of Moskovskaya and Rybnaya Streets.
Starting in early July, cholera began to spread in the area surrounding the city. Thirteen people fell ill in the village of Osnova, and 18 in the settlement of Ivanovka.
However, although the epidemic raged across virtually the entire province, mortality rates varied from place to place. Valki was the least affected by the epidemic. In the Vovchansky District, only one fatality is reported.
In the Kharkiv district (excluding the city), 73 people died of cholera. In Bohodukhiv and the surrounding district, 331 people fell ill, of whom 104 died. In the three other districts, the mortality rate was roughly the same. In the Zmiiv District, 348 people died; in the Izium District, 333; and in the Starobil’s’k District, 376. In Lebedyn and its district, the situation was among the most severe: about 1,250 people fell ill and 593 died. The situation was no better in Sumy County, with 1,050 cases and 411 deaths, respectively. As we can see, the summer cholera epidemic of 1866 most severely affected the northwestern and southern parts of our region.
People also suffered greatly from measles in 1867–1868—so much so that in a number of counties, the disease reached epidemic proportions. For example, in the Bogodukhovsky District in March and April, measles raged in Sharivka, Krasnokuts’k, and Polkovaya Nikitovka.
A total of 125 people fell ill, and 8 died. In the Buimerovskaya volost of the Lebedynsky District, from February through April 1868, 310 people fell ill, and 61 died. In the Vovchansky District, the measles epidemic continued almost unabated from 1865 to 1868, appearing here and there, sometimes with devastating intensity.
The following was written about it:
In 1868, measles spread among children in the villages of Grafskoye, Ilshen, Novo-Ivanovka, and Verkhny Saltov; the total number of cases reached 452, or 130 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the number of deaths was 134, or 38%; that is, more people died from this single epidemic than die in general, for example, in the Poltava Governorate, or nearly as many as died in the entire Kharkiv Governorate in 1869 (i.e., per 1,000 inhabitants). For every 100 people who fell ill, 30 died.
The situation was no better in the Zmiyevsky District—there, a measles epidemic raged, with only brief interruptions, from 1866 to 1868. Those who fell ill were primarily children between the ages of 5 and 8.
As in the case of cholera, the cause of the measles epidemic was attributed to the poverty of the population and the “poor sanitary conditions” surrounding it…
