ABSTRACT

A recurring theme in research on infectious diseases has been to empirically describe and capture the epidemic experience. The first step in contextualizing the epidemic is to describe its fundamental epidemiological characteristics, using traditional methods. The second step is to define the prevailing state of mortality before and after the epidemic, ideally in empirical terms. Despite the imposition of a wide range of quarantine measures, it was impossible to filter out everyone who carried the threat of an epidemic disease, such as cholera carriers and those with subclinical infections, who could easily slip through guarded land gates. Cholera in Gibraltar was an imported disease that was facilitated by Gibraltar's position as a commercial center, naval port, garrison town, and British colony Since 1804 Gibraltar has been subjected to the arrival of numerous deadly, novel pathogens that have had a profound impact on the biodemographic profile of the community.