One of the worst disease outbreaks, in Irish terms, to make headlines was a typhus fever epidemic in the early 19th century. Between 1816 and 1819, typhus racked up 1.5 million cases and killed about 65,000 people in Ireland, according to estimates, with the greatest rate of mortality recorded in the summer of 1817. A number of factors were blamed; prominent among them was the abundance of wandering “beggars” and the popularity of holding of wakes for dead typhus patients. Gathering in cramped places with corpses was a needless hazard that helped spread the fever quickly among affected populations, doctors concluded. “Spanish flu”, as it is commonly known, killed millions worldwide between 1918 and 1919 and more than 20,000 in Ireland, according to most estimates.

Source: The Irish Times March 15, 2020 07:41 UTC