Typhus

A severe epidemic of typhus broke out in Bytown in 1847. It was generally known as the emigrant or ship fever, and 314 deaths were recorded in Bytown between mid-June and late August. That summer 3,100 immigrants reached Bytown. The landing place and the immigrant sheds were located at the canal basin [Small 1903]. The governor-in-council appointed a Board of health on the 10th of July. The disease prevailed from June 1847 to May 1848, and all public buildings were closed from June to October [Moffatt 1986].