Ryazantsev S.V., Smirnov A.V. Was the Bukhara Epidemic the Onset of the 1889–1890 “Russian Flu” Pandemic? (Socio-Demographic Study). Bylye Gody. 2023. 18(1): 353-366. DOI: 10.13187 ...

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Abstract

It is believed that the virus that caused the 1889−1890 “Russian flu” pandemic originated in the capital of the Bukhara emirate in May 1889. This article is about the Bukhara epidemic. The purpose of the article is to analyze the Bukhara epidemic and its causes and to answer the question: was the disease in Bukhara really caused by an influenza virus. The study is based on pre-revolutionary sources of the late 19th century, including periodicals containing information about the epidemic. The literature on the “Russian flu” pandemic provides evidence that the virus originated in May 1889 in Bukhara. It was first described by a witness of the Bukhara epidemic, doctor O.F. Heyfelder. From the second half of May until the beginning of August 1889, a great part of Bukhara’s population fell ill with a fever. About 7,000 people died. The lethality of the Bukhara epidemic was at least 5 %, and the lethality of the “Russian flu” was 35 times less: 0.2 %. Theincubation period for the Bukhara fever was 1-2 weeks, while for influenza it was 1-3 days. The characteristic symptoms of the “Russian flu” – cough and complications in the form of pneumonia – were absent in Bukhara’s patients. Given the population migration along the Trans-Caspian railway and the virus contagiousness, influenza would have come to the cities located near Bukhara as early as in summer. But in Tashkent, Baku, Vladikavkaz, influenza emerges at the end of November 1889. The poor sanitary conditions in the city, snowy and cold winter contributed to the development of the epidemic. The heat that came in April provoked a rapid melting of snow, which resulted in very high water levels in reservoirs and the soil. The heat and plenty of water created favorable conditions for the reproduction of Anopheles mosquitoes, vectors of malaria. At the end of August 1889, a commission of 4 doctors came to the conclusion that the cause of the Bukhara epidemic was malaria. Malaria was endemic for Bukhara. Presumably, the Bukhara epidemic could be caused by P. falciparum, the causative agent of tropical malaria. Heyfelder came to the conclusion that the Bukhara epidemic and the influenza epidemic the Russian Empire were identical diseases. Cough, sore throat, complications in the respiratory system, according to Heyfelder, were characteristic of influenza in northern latitudes only. The Bukhara epidemic was rather due to malaria presumably caused by P. than due to an influenza virus.