CHOLERA

In 1820, the first cholera pandemic would sweep through Asia. Originating in India, cholera reared its ugly head in Thailand, Vietnam and eventually Manila in September. The next year, it was wreaking havoc in Japan, China, Java, Oman, Iraq and Syria!

Transmitted by bacteria usually through contaminated water, cholera is not the most pleasant of diseases, causing massive diarrhea, dehydration, fever, and more than half the time, instant death. Quarantine and isolation — the only way to slow down the spread of disease — were impossible in a culture where family and friendship are paramount. 

So many Filipinos died during the six month epidemic of 1820-21 that the historic Paco Cemetery was actually built to accommodate all the newly dead. The worst part of the epidemic was the panic created by the spread of fake news. Genetic luck was the only defense against a painful end but that didn’t stop people from trying remedies like alcohol or opium that exacerbated rather than improved the situation. Locals accused foreigners of poisoning the Pasig River, leading to the rise of mobs on October 9 that massacred the French, British and Russian (but not Spanish) residents of Manila. Not surprisingly, the mob also killed a whole lot more Chinese.

With Spanish flu appearing in Manila in 1918, is the country really due for a 100-year plague (in Tagalog, salot) anniversary this year? Well, yes and no. Disease outbreaks continued to happen in the Philippines throughout the ages, with smallpox and cholera alternating in killing the most people. The worst cholera outbreak happened after the Philippine Revolution where the malnutrition, poverty and destruction spawned by the American invasion sped up the return of cholera in 1902, killing 200,000 people, including the Dakilang Lumpo himself, Apolinario Mabini. Just last year, dengue killed at least 1,200 people. 

Despite the bushfires, volcanic eruption, locust swarms, and now a coronavirus pestilence, people may think that 2020 is the age of apocalypse. But until we see War and Famine, we may still be ok.