“The terrible guest”: chronicle of the cholera epidemic in the departamento of Caupolican (1887-1888)

Abstract

Between late 1886 and early 1888, Chile was visited by a “terrible guest”, as it is described by El Caupolicán of Rengo: the much-feared cholera was present in Chile for the first time. The department of Caupolicán, in the province of Colchagua, a mainly rural territory, suffered greatly from the epidemic, with over two thousand deaths related to cholera. The present study intends to, analysing sources such as local press and death records, describe the sanitary crisis in the Colchagua department, from the preventive measures taken by local authorities up to the ‘second epidemic’ and its aftermath.