1870 Barcelona yellow fever epidemic

In the late 1800s, Barcelona was known as a commercial port city with a harbor that connected the city to other cities and countries.[1] The harbor was crucial for trade, exchange of ideas, and overall contact with the foreign world.[1] Yellow fever was one of the diseases the people of Barcelona suffered from due to such contact.[1] The yellow fever virus is transmitted via a species of invasive mosquitoes called Aedes aegypti.[1][2]

The yellow fever was brought to the city by a ship that had arrived from Cuba.[1] The yellow fever epidemic occurred during late 1870, beginning in August to the end of the year. There were a total of 1235 deaths; 468 women and 767 men.[1] The epidemic ended due to the city following hygienic measures and the mosquitoes not surviving Barcelona's cold weather conditions in December 1870.[1] These mosquitoes are said to be great carriers of the yellow fever virus and have led to larger outbreaks throughout other places in Europe.[3]

There were two epidemics of the same disease had taken place previously in Barcelona. One took place in 1803 while the other in 1821.[1] The estimated number of people killed in 1821 is said to be either 3,251,[4] 6,244,[5] or more than 8,000.[6] There was, also in the 19th century, another epidemic that had occurred in Wales.[3] The 1865 South Wales epidemic occurred due to the arrival of a boat filled with infected passengers and A. aegypti mosquitos.[3]