Originating from the Bay of Bengal, the second cholera pandemic (1828-1838) spread with impressive speed to the rest of Asia, North Africa, and finally to Europe, spreading terror everywhere and claiming millions of victims. Its march westward saw the countries of northern and central Europe succumb, and only from 1834 were the southern reaches of the continent, such as Portugal and Spain, affected. The states of the Italian peninsula were invaded only in 1835, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as is known, in the two-year period 1836-37. Long before cholera penetrated the borders of the Kingdom, however, the Bourbon government made every effort to prepare preventive measures deemed suitable to prevent contagion. During 1831, the following measures (among others) were adopted: the refusal to admit goods and people from infected territories into the Kingdom; quarantines for those coming from suspicious areas; the application of martial law for any type of infringement of health laws; the organization of a sanitary cordon, first only by sea and then also by land, along the entire coastal profile of the Kingdom. It was a vast and organic preventive action, which required a considerable organizational effort, and involved the use of enormous material and human resources. The purpose of this contribution is to reconstruct this phase of the Bourbon health policy, and to evaluate (also in the light of current epidemiological concepts) the effectiveness of this policy in relation to the aims it set itself.
Traendo origine dal golfo del Bengala, la seconda pandemia colerica (1828-1838) si propagò con impressionante rapidità al resto dell’Asia, all’Africa settentrionale, e finalmente all’Europa, seminando terrore dappertutto e mietendo milioni di vittime. La sua marcia verso Ovest vide soccombere dapprima i paesi dell’Europa centro-settentrionale, e solo a partire dal 1834 anche le propaggini meridionali del continente, quali il Portogallo e la Spagna. Gli stati della penisola italiana furono invasi solo nel 1835, e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, come noto, nel biennio 1836-37. Molto prima che il colera penetrasse nei confini del Regno, tuttavia, il governo borbonico si sforzò con ogni mezzo di predisporre misure di prevenzione reputate idonee ad impedire il contagio. Nel corso del 1831, furono adottati (tra gli altri) i seguenti provvedimenti: il rifiuto di ammettere in Regno merci e persone provenienti da territori infetti; le quarantene per quelle provenienti da zone sospette; l’applicazione della legge marziale per ogni tipo di infrazione alle leggi sanitarie; l’organizzazione di un cordone sanitario, prima solo marittimo e poi anche terrestre, lungo tutto il profilo costiero del Regno. Si trattò di una vasta ed organica azione preventiva, che richiese un considerevole sforzo organizzativo, e comportò l’impiego di enormi risorse materiali ed umane. Scopo del presente contributo è quello di ricostruire questa fase della politica sanitaria borbonica, e di valutare (anche alla luce delle attuali concezioni epidemiologiche) l’efficacia di tale politica in relazione alle finalità che essa si proponeva.
Tanturri, A., Aspettando il colera: le misura di prevenzione attuate nel Regno delle Due Sicilie nel 1831, <<RIME – RIVISTA DELL’ISTITUTO DI STORIA DELL’EUROPA MEDITERRANEA>>, 2020; 9 (III n.s.): 223-248. [doi:10.7410/1522] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/195550]
Aspettando il colera: le misura di prevenzione attuate nel Regno delle Due Sicilie nel 1831
Tanturri, Alberto
2020
Abstract
Originating from the Bay of Bengal, the second cholera pandemic (1828-1838) spread with impressive speed to the rest of Asia, North Africa, and finally to Europe, spreading terror everywhere and claiming millions of victims. Its march westward saw the countries of northern and central Europe succumb, and only from 1834 were the southern reaches of the continent, such as Portugal and Spain, affected. The states of the Italian peninsula were invaded only in 1835, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as is known, in the two-year period 1836-37. Long before cholera penetrated the borders of the Kingdom, however, the Bourbon government made every effort to prepare preventive measures deemed suitable to prevent contagion. During 1831, the following measures (among others) were adopted: the refusal to admit goods and people from infected territories into the Kingdom; quarantines for those coming from suspicious areas; the application of martial law for any type of infringement of health laws; the organization of a sanitary cordon, first only by sea and then also by land, along the entire coastal profile of the Kingdom. It was a vast and organic preventive action, which required a considerable organizational effort, and involved the use of enormous material and human resources. The purpose of this contribution is to reconstruct this phase of the Bourbon health policy, and to evaluate (also in the light of current epidemiological concepts) the effectiveness of this policy in relation to the aims it set itself.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.