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Momoh 1 Tobi Momoh Professor Richard Rosol English 214 May 8, 2012 Famine Project The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. It was a devastating experience for the people in Ireland and even other parts of the world. In an area where about one-third of the population was dependent on the potato for food, the number of casualties was significantly high. Although the failure of the potato crop is what caused many deaths, diseases inflicted caused just as many, if not more, deaths. The first sight of disease in Ireland was the infection of the potatoes. In September 1845, a strange disease coined, “potato blight,” was first discovered in the fields across Ireland. “The potatoes were black in color, rotten, and their leaves had withered” (Edwards & Williams). Studies In Irish History went on to identify that during the harvest season in 1845, this newfound disease destroyed about half of the potato crop. Farmers began to plant even more potatoes the following spring, in hopes of fresh crops and not having to suffer the same hardship. “However, by the time harvest had come in Autumn (Fall) 1846, almost the entire crop had been wiped out” (Edwards & Williams). Matters were only getting worst and the failure of the potato crop was only the beginning of their problems. Momoh 2 The question of what the main source of death during this time can have several answers. On top of the infectious crops, starvation, or a combination of both, infectious diseases were the biggest contributions to what people died from. These diseases came in various multitudes and with different intensity. For starters, it should be identified that starvation contributed to these infectious diseases. “It should be pointed out that recent research has questioned the widely held assumption that malnutrition inevitably leads to increased susceptibility to infection” (Dirks). When the body is deprived of food and proteins, disease is assured. Scurvy in Ireland during the Great Famine identified scurvy to be one of the deadly diseases as a result of starvation. “Irish diets had always been rich in Vitamin C thanks to the potato; as diets changed after the blight, scurvy made an unexpected appearance in Ireland” (Crawford). Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C. “The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, ‘scorbutus’” (Crosta). The lack of potato consumption led to the insufficiency of vitamin C and began to inflict damage at a rapid rate. “Some symptoms of scurvy include appetite, loss, poor weight gain, diarrhea, rapid breathing, fever, irritability, tenderness and discomfort in legs, swelling over long bones, bleeding, and feelings of paralysis” (Crosta). Crosta’s article went on to identify death as a result in the late stages of scurvy. Scurvy was only one of the common diseases that the Irish suffered from “The most common diseases in Ireland during the famine years were typhus, cholera, dysentery and scurvy” (Cronin, 260). A study in Famine Disease and Famine Mortality lists fever Momoh 3 accounting for 20.56% of deaths in Mayo. Medical History of the Famine recognized Mayo as one of the worst afflicted regions of Ireland in 1841. The study listed starvation only being responsible for 4.82% deaths in Mayo. Fever was clearly a more significant factor in the death toll than actual starvation. Typhus was known as “ship’s fever” (Matton). The people leaving Ireland were already suffering from poverty and famine. Ships that were unfit for human transport contained individuals jumbled together in what were known as “coffin ships” (Edwards) which made the disease spread at an incredible rate. The Great Famine; Studies in Irish History exposed the captains for intentionally overcrowding their ships to get more fare. Infectious Disease in History: The Fever Sheds stated that these ships were traveling across the Atlantic towards Quebec. “The French Canadians in Quebec are known for adopting the many Irish Catholic orphans whose parents perished before they reached North America” (Matton). Not only was disease spreading at a rapid rate in Ireland, but the destinations these ships were arriving to were also victim. A disease known as ophthalmia also affected the Irish according to Dearth, Diet and Disease in Ireland. “Late in 1849, the Irish Poor Law Commissioners became greatly alarmed by an epidemic of what was described as ophthalmia prevailing in some workhouses” (Crawford, 155-156). Ophthalmia is a disease that inflames the eye. Dearth, Diet and Disease in Ireland blamed the dirty and overcrowded conditions within the workhouses to be the cause of the spreading disease. Authorities were so concerned of this newfound disease and required investigations to be done. “So great was the concern Momoh 4 of the authorities at the scale of the epidemic that the Poor Law Commissioners asked Arthur Jacob, Professor of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons, and Sir William Wilde, a leading Dublin ophthalmic surgeon, to investigate the epidemic” (Crawford, 156). The study showed that the number of cases doubled in number over the years. The total number of cases in workhouses was 13,812 in 1849, 27,200 in 1850 and 45,947 by 1851. This study goes to show how quickly disease spread during the famine. One of the surgeons identified children to be vulnerable to the disease than adults. “Wilde, too, noted that children were by far the more vulnerable to attack, and those with obvious marks of starvation were also more susceptible” (Crawford, 156). Children were unable to withstand the harsh conditions at the time and were easy targets. The small bodies of the children effortlessly succumbed to any disease. Further studies were done to figure out why the children contracted the disease more than adults. Studies went on to discover that the children suffered from another eye disease. Adults possess sufficient supplies for their health and can withstand a decent amount of diseases naturally. Children on the other hand have smaller reserves, which can be quickly depleting and more vulnerable to disease. “The high incidence among children is an important diagnostic point in the disease, xerophthalmia, and it raises the possibility that some of those children were victims not of ophthalmia but of the nutritional deficiency disease, xerophthalmia” (Crawford, 157). According to PubMed Health, xerophthalmia is a disease in the eye that is caused when the eye is unable to maintain a healthy layer of tears to coat it. Xerophthalmia is also known as the “dry eye Momoh 5 syndrome” (PubMed Health). Wilde’s study noted that the lack of the fat-soluble vitamin A in the diet was the cause of this disease. The study stated foods rich in vitamin A included fish liver oils, such as cod-liver oil, and red palm oil. Other foods that could have been suitable sources of vitamin A were liver, butter, cream, cheese, whole milk, and egg yolk. Unfortunate for them, there wasn’t enough food available for consumption, yet alone foods containing this vitamin. “Insufficiency or lack of vitamin A over a prolonged period leads to xerophthalmia, a damaging eye condition, which, if untreated, results in blindness” (Crawford, 157). The Irish diet lacked many foods containing vitamin A to begin with and the famished conditions strengthened the likelihood of this deficiency. Diseases of the digestive system were also a problem people suffered. People’s digestive system suffered due to the decline in food quality. “As food supply declines in quantity, desperate people slid down the quality ladder, falling back on items that would normally not be eaten: seaweeds, diseased and spoiled foods, and wild plants” (Mokyr & Gráda). Without their main food source, alternative foods had to be consumed. Some of which were not the best choices for human consumption. According to Famine Disease and Famine Mortality, there was evidence that famished people in Ireland ate decomposing carrion as well as nettles, carrageen moss, and corn-weed. Such substances can brutally attack the digestive system and cause an array of diseases, which could become fatal. Other digestive diseases identified were due to changes in consumption of “unfamiliar emergency foods” (Mokyr & Gráda). These emergency foods were imported Momoh 6 from overseas to assist the famished Irish. Famine Disease and Famine Mortality highlighted Indian corn as the most notorious of the unfamiliar foods. “Contemporary reports described the diseases suffered by people from consuming unfamiliar and improperly prepared foods from Indian meal” (Mokyr & Gráda). The diet of the Irish was too unfamiliar and unprepared for the consumption of international food in the absence of their main potato crop. The Irish were too used to consuming potatoes so the introduction of a new type of food did not settle right with them. Infectious diseases due to a migrating population also contributed. The famine caused people to leave their homes in search of food. According to Famine Disease and Famine Mortality, mobility increased mortality for two reasons. “One is that it exposes both the famine refugees and their hosts to new disease environments and microbial regimes to which they are not immune” (Mokyr & Gráda). These migrating families were easy targets in new environments where unknown diseases existed. Their bodies were not prepared for new conditions they were to face since it was unfamiliar territory. “The other is that hygienic and sanitary needs depended on certain fixed items” (Mokyr & Gráda). The certain fixed items referred to included laundry facilities, cooking utensils, and other sanitary arrangements. Activities normally performed in the household with these sanitary items had to be completed outside of the home with the absence of them. The famine made hygiene difficult to maintain and obtain. The diseases contracted outside of the home coined the term “road fever” (Mokyr & Gráda). Momoh 7 A large reason for people migrating was not only to search for food but eviction by landlords. Tenants farmers who lost their crops were disabled from acquiring the necessities to acquire rent, yet alone pay it. They were forced to leave their homes by resident and absentee landlords. However, there were instances of landlord’s giving their tenants some leeway. “According to the same eyewitness, ‘Only one landlord in the whole locality… did anything to save the people…. He asked no rent for two years, and he never afterwards insisted on the rent for those two years’” (Gallagher, 40). Paddy’s Lament shared a handful of authorities that sympathized with people being evicted. Those kicked out of their homes were left to perish on the roadside. The homes that were being evacuated were just being destroyed, making conditions even worse for everyone. These individuals were known as “Irish home wreckers” (Callagher). With these home wreckers on the prowl, evictions were “so commonplace,” “so methodical,” and “so legally impossible to prevent” (Gallagher, 49). People traveled long distances in search of food and a lot of them did so without water. Death by dehydration was also a factor since many people failed to replace fluids in the body. With all the decaying bodies, there was also a lack of proper disposal of a large number of dead bodies. As heavily into religion as the Irish were, the proper burial of a dead body was very important. “But in an environment of numerous deaths, such procedures could not be followed” (Cronin, 260). This made for even more unsanitary measures. According to Irish Histories for Dummies, bodies were found in cabins, on the Momoh 8 fields, and on the roadsides. Rats and dogs were known for feasting on the decaying bodies out in the open. Bodies had to be placed in large trenches. It can be assumed that a large reason as to why there were high death rates during the Irish famine was because of the lack of knowledge about infectious diseases. “The problem can be laid out starkly by noting that Famine kills through poverty and ignorance” (Mokyr & Gráda). On one side, when people have to revert to extreme measures because of poverty in order to survive, they will meet their death no matter how much they know about the cause of disease. On the other side, even people who are well fed are at risk if they are not aware of how to avoid contagion. “In between, there is a more complex area in which people are aware to some extent of the modes of infection but do not get it quite right, or are too poor or too weak to avoid them” (Mokyr & Gráda). In often cases, individuals will die at rapid rates if faced with this challenge. When infectious disease begins to spread, it is difficult to hinder when one cannot provide the necessary means for prevention. The victims nor authorizes were able to properly distinguish why microorganisms were the reason for high death rates over hunger and exposure until the 1880s, according to Famine Disease and Famine Mortality. “Their ignorance of the exact nature of what it was that was killing most famine victims is a crucial element in determining the demographic impact of past famines”(Mokyr & Gráda). During a time of crisis, the most basic understanding of the mechanisms of infection can be of great importance in preventing or limiting massive death rates. Unfortunately for the Irish, any basic understanding was nonexistent in the 1840s. How much difference would better Momoh 9 knowledge have made? The statistics provided in the Famine Disease and Famine Mortality study might suggest that more knowledge might have made a considerable difference even if it would not have prevented mass deaths. The study stated that at least one-third of all famine deaths were caused by various diseases, which might have been avoided if people understood the nature of exactly what made them ill. “Typhus and relapsing fever were transmitted by the human louse, and while avoiding lice would have become more difficult in the desperate uprooted populations gathering in poor houses, relief works and food depots, it stands to reason that had people only known how dangerous lice were, that efforts could have been made to slow down the epidemic” (Geary, 50). In an attempt to prevent death by dehydration, if people were aware of basic facts on the importance of replacing fluids they could have boiled water and let it cool down before consuming. But again, neither patients nor doctors had this knowledge. The poor were not the only ones to suffer. Higher-ranking individuals were not by any means immune to contracting a disease because of their social class. “At greatest risk were people such as clergymen, relief workers, and medical practitioners, whose work involved frequent contact with the diseased” (McArthur). It only made sense that those who worked closely with the sick would ultimately be afflicted by the same diseases. As explained before, they were not fully knowledgeable on how to prevent or cure most diseases. And even if they were knowledgeable on some diseases, there couldn’t have been enough resources to save everyone at the accelerated rate that they were pouring in. “In Ireland as a whole nearly two hundred doctors and medical students died in 1847, three times the pre-famine average” (McArthur). A better understanding of how the Momoh 10 diseases transmitted and the need for necessary hygienic resources, they along with many others could have been saved. Most of Ireland had very few doctors to begin with. As previously recognized as one of the worst afflicted regions of Ireland, there was a total count of 37 physicians and 28 surgeons in Mayo. In other words, there was one medical practitioner for every six thousand people. So to go along with the low quality of medical expertise these people were faced with, there was a lack of medical personal. Religious figures also suffered. “Catholic and Protestant clergymen also died in large number” (Kerr). These diseases saw no social class or person with stature. Any and everyone was a victim. If it wasn’t bad enough that people were dying of starvation because of the decline of their main crop, disease also struck and increased the rate in which people were dying. Diseases accounted for a higher number in the death total because of the many different types. There were diseases that were passed by human contact, diseases caused by malnutrition and the consumption of substitute food. With all the diseases spreading, the medical personnel could not be of much assistance since there was a small number compared to the growing number of patients. Not only were the medical staff outnumbered but they lacked the necessary information to intervene. There just wasn’t enough that could have been done to slow down the rate in mortality during the Irish famine. Momoh 11 Works Cited Crawford, Margaret. Dearth, Diet and Disease In Ireland, 1850: A Case Study of Nutritional Deficiency. Med History. 28, April 1984; (2): 151–161. Cronin, Mike. “Succumbing to Disease.” Irish History for Dummies. England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Print. Crosta, Peter. “What Is Scurvy? What Causes Scurvy?” Medical News Today. 30 June 2009, Web. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155758.php Dirks, Robert. “Famine and Disease” in Kenneth F. Kiple 1993 edition of The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.157-63. Edwards, Robert D. and Williams, Thomas D. "The Great Famine: Studies in Irish History 1845-52", Lilliput Press, 1956 (reprinted 1997). Gallagher, Thomas. “The Doomed Country.” Paddy’s Lament. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. pp. 44-56 Geary, Laurence M. “The Late Disastrous Epidemic: Medical Relief and the Great Famine” (1996) in Chris Morash and Richard Hayes Fearful Realities: New Perspectives on the Famine. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. Gráda, Cormac Ó. “The Great Famine and Other Famines.” Famine 150: Commemorative Lecture Series. Dublin: Teagasc, 1997. pp. 129-57 Kerr, Donal. The Catholic Church and the Famine. Dublin: Columba Press, 1996. Matton, Kayla. “Infectious Disease in History: The Fever Sheds.” Canaduceus, Blogspot: 7 Feb 2011. Web. Momoh 12 McArthur, William P. “Medical History of the Famine.” In Robert D. Edwards and Thomas D. Williams, The Great Famine: Studies In Irish History 184552. Bristol: Lilliput Press; 1956. p. 279. Mokyr, Joel. “The Deadly Fungus: An Econometric Investigation Into The Short-Term Demographic Impact Of The Irish Famine, 1846-51.” Research In Population Economics, Vol. 2, 1980. pp. 429-59 Mokyr, Joel and Gráda, Cormac Ó. Famine Disease and Famine Mortality: Lessons from Ireland, 1845-185. Departments of Economics and History, Northwestern University. Department of Economics, University College; Dublin. 30 June 1999. Print.