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Cholera occurred repeatedly in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century. This infectious disease was mainly transmitted via contaminated drinking water or food. The disease manifested itself in severe diarrhea and dehydration. The last major outbreak occurred in the Netherlands in 1866. But in 1873, 150 years ago, the disease reappeared.
Halfway through the year the first reports came that did not yet seem alarming. But that changed in September. Three people died in Bergen op Zoom from the dreaded disease. It was followed by similar reports from other cities. Shortly afterwards it became known that the disease had manifested itself in a family in Tholen. Four people were affected, three of whom died. One source of the fire seemed to be Gouda with 33 sufferers, of which 21 died.
The first fatal case of the disease was detected in Zierikzee on November 15. It concerned Jacob van Splunter, 47 years old, innkeeper and innkeeper in the Goessche Veerhuis on the corner of Hoofdpoortstraat and Zevenhuisstraat. He had been to South Holland on commercial business and had spent the night in Gouda. That’s where he contracted the disease. The disease manifested itself at eleven o’clock and he died six hours later. Immediately he was isolated from the rest of the family. Partly because of this, his housemates remained unharmed.
For a moment it seemed that it would remain with this one case. However, on December 16, in a family, three out of five members were affected by the disease. The affected family had an upstairs back room in a house on Schuttershofstraat, now number 7, where two more families lived downstairs. The sick had had no contact with the first sufferer nor with persons from outside the city. However, hygiene left a lot to be desired. The mother of the family, Catharina Pieternella van Saarloos-Herkemij, 61 years old and a widow, died that same December 16. The other two were transferred to a barracks intended for this purpose. The unmarried daughter, Elizabeth van Saarloos, aged 34, died there two days later. Two days later, on December 20 at half past eleven, Karel Pieter van Saarloos, aged two, died, the son of the unmarried Cornelia Johanna van Saarloos, who had died at the end of 1871.
The disease still claimed a fatality. That case was also isolated. The woman in question, Maria van den Bos, wife of carpenter Abraham Drasselaar, 61 years old, had had no contact with the other infected people. She died on Sunday evening, December 22, in her home at Breedstraat 28. The housemates, who were immediately isolated, were all unharmed.
In all cases, the beds and clothing of the deceased and infected people were burned and the homes were disinfected. It remained with these five victims. The outbreak made it clear that the renovation and furnishing of the building against infectious diseases had to be accelerated. This became the so-called old barracks on Manhuisstraat, now known as the garrison hall of the De Veste apartment complex.
The inspector of the state medical supervision, Dr. AA Fokker from Middelburg, came to Zierikzee and gave the necessary instructions for the renovation of the building. He also initiated an investigation into the circumstances under which the disease had occurred. In all cases it concerned the southwestern part of the city. Many homes were poorly maintained, there was a lot of dirt and filth in the form of manure piles, keeping rabbits under the beds and the like. Moreover, it became clear that the municipality had to replace the open gutter behind the houses on the north side of Hoofdpoortstraat with a sewer.
2023-11-25 07:43:00
#Cholera #Zierikzee
