A pest house, plague house, pesthouse or fever shed was a type of building used for persons afflicted with
communicable disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
s such as
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
,
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
,
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
or
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
. Often used for forcible
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
, many towns and cities had one or more pesthouses accompanied by a cemetery or a
waste pond
A waste pond or chemical pond is a small impounded water body used for the disposal of water pollutants, and sometimes utilized as a method of recycling or decomposing toxic substances. Such waste ponds may be used for regular disposal of pollutan ...
nearby for disposal of the dead.
Fever sheds in Canada
Fever sheds were built in several communities across
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...
in 1847, to quarantine sick and dying
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
immigrants, who contracted
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
during the voyage to the New World during the
Great Famine.
Montreal
In
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, between 3,500 and 6,000 Irish immigrants died in fever sheds in a quarantine area known as
Windmill Point
Goose Village (French: "Village-aux-Oies") was a neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its official but less commonly used name was Victoriatown, after the adjacent Victoria Bridge, Montreal, Victoria Bridge. The neighbourhood was built ...
. Three sheds were initially constructed, long by 40 to wide. As thousands more sick immigrants landed, more sheds had to be erected. The number of sheds would grow to 22, with troops cordoning off the area so the sick could not escape.
Toronto
In
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, during the summer of 1847, 863 Irish immigrants died of typhus at fever sheds built by the
Toronto Board of Health
Toronto Public Health (TPH) is the public health unit in Toronto, Ontario. It is responsible for delivering public health programs and services, enforcing public health regulations and advising Toronto City Council on health issues. The current ...
at the northwest corner of
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and
John Street. There were at least 12 sheds, 22 metres long by 7.5 metres wide.
Saint John
Partridge Island, New Brunswick
Partridge Island is a Canadian island located in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Saint John, New Brunswick, within the city's Inner Harbour.
The island is a provincial historic site and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1974. ...
, just outside the main harbour of
Saint John, was chosen as the location for a pest house and quarantine station as far back as 1785. In 1847, with a large influx of Irish migrants, the typhus epidemic quickly filled the fever shed with sick and dying. By the 1847 typhus season, 2115 people had died in New Brunswick, with 1196 dying at Partridge Island and in Saint John.
Surviving pest houses
United States
![Wood County, Ohio Pest House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Wood_County%2C_Ohio_Pest_House.jpg)
*
Pest House (Cockeysville, Maryland)
*
Pest House (Concord, Massachusetts)
The Ephraim Potter House, a historic house and former pest house at 158 Fairhaven Road in Concord, Massachusetts, is also known as the Pest House, a name used in the 18th century to describe a building in which to quarantine those afflicted with ...
*
Pest House (Stillwater, Minnesota)
The Pest House in Stillwater Township, Minnesota, United States, is a former quarantine facility used by the city of Stillwater circa 1872 to 1910. It is a rare surviving example of a pest house, a common public health strategy of the late 19t ...
Pest House (Knappton, Washington)* 7.3 Ma'am Pest House (Redwood City, California)
*
Pest House at the Wood County Museum
United Kingdom
![Pest House, Findon - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Pest_House%2C_Findon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_442613.jpg)
There are eight surviving pest houses, including:
*
Findon, West Sussex
Findon is a semi-rural clustered village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Worthing.
Governance
An electoral ward in the same name. This ward stretches south west to Patching with ...
*
Odiham
Odiham () is a large historic village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It is twinned with Sourdeval in the Manche Department of France. The 2011 population was 4,406. The parish in 1851 had an area of 7,354 acres wi ...
* Grantham, Lincs.
Deddington
Deddington is a civil parish and small town in Oxfordshire about south of Banbury. The parish includes two hamlets: Clifton and Hempton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,146. Deddington is a small settlement but has a co ...
, Oxfordshire has a Pest House Field.
The Pest House Field
/ref>
Richmond, London
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...
has a Pesthouse common.
* Great Chart, Kent
* Cranbrook, Kent
The Netherlands
There is an extant pest house in Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
, the Pesthuis ( nl), built in 1661 to accommodate many patients, although it has never served this purpose.
See also
* Lazaretto
A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...
* '' Death or Canada'', a Canadian-Irish docudrama partly set in fever sheds in Canada
* Social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Lynchburg VA Museum pesthouse
US
UK
UK
Pest (plague) Houses - the start of public health
UK
Freedictionary definition
Vermont Journal
US
Quarantine facilities
Death
Isolation (health care)