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There really weren't any short term effects. over 4000 people were killed. Most people believe that it was Caribbean refugees who brought the disease to the United States. Families were torn apart due to the disease. The wealthy fled, going to the country where the air was cleaner. Dock workers were diagnosed first because they were so close to all of the immigrants from the Caribbean. Mosquitoes carried the disease by biting a sickly person, then biting a healthy one. At the time the people in Philadelphia didn't realize how the disease was traveling. The summer was extremely dry and hot which made good breeding ground for insects. At the time slavery was still legal but Philadelphia was home to the most free African Americans in the United States.

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16y ago

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