Major U.S. Epidemics 1793 Philadelphia:more than 4,000 residents died from yellow fever. 1832 July–Aug., New York City:over 3,000 people killed in a choleraepidemic. Oct., New Orleans:cholera took the lives of 4,340 people. 1848 New York City:more than 5,000 deaths caused by cholera. 1853 New Orleans:yellow fever killed 7,790. 1867 New Orleans:3,093 perished from yellow fever. 1878 Southern states:over 13,000 people died from yellow fever in lower Mississippi Valley. 1916 Nationwide:over 7,000 deaths occurred and 27,363 cases were reported of polio(infantile paralysis) in America's worst polio epidemic. 1918 March–Nov., nationwide:outbreak of Spanish influenza killed over 500,000 people in the worst single U.S. epidemic. 1949 Nationwide:2,720 deaths occurred from polio, and 42,173 cases were reported. 1952 Nationwide:polio killed 3,300; 57,628 cases reported. 1981–Dec. 2005: Total estimated U.S. AIDS cases: 988,376; total estimated AIDS deaths: 550,394 (Centers for Disease Control). 2009 In April, H1N1, also known as Swine Flu, breaks out and quickly spreads to more than 70 countries. The Centers for Disease Control reports that between April and October, 22 million Americans had contracted the virus, 98,000 required hospitalization, and about 3,900 people died from H1N1-related causes.