a dozen dead and more than 500 infected

In the summer of 1971, several cases of cholera appeared in Epile and Rueda. Specifically, and according to official data, 7 people fell ill with this bacterial disease. All have mild symptoms. The outbreak was quickly brought under control and, according to the official version, There were no deaths or infections outside the site of origin, the Jalón Valley.

However, two graduate medical projects completed Javier Martinez Lite and Maria Rico under the direction of Javier Martinez, A professor of the history of medicine at the University of Zaragoza has revealed new information that completely contradicts the data provided by the authorities at the time to both the media and the people of Zaragoza.

“In connection with the covid pandemic, we remembered the cholera epidemic that occurred in the province of Zaragoza in 1971 and the mass vaccination campaign that was carried out, during which more than 600,000 people have received a vaccine against this disease– says University of Zaragoza professor Javier Martinez. “But there was no new information in this information relative to the data from the 1970s, so we wanted to assess the real scale of the outbreak, the reaction and the impact it had in the capital of Zaragoza, and reconstruct the figures,” he lists.

“We have found that our investigation differs significantly from the official version.”

“We have confirmed that they differ significantly from the official version,” Martinez says. “At that time, it was reported that 7 cases were diagnosed in the Jalon Valley, but After investigation, we came to the conclusion that the cases took place not only in Jalón, but also in the capital of Zaragoza. a new product that was not talked about then,” says the professor.

Moreover, the official version stated that there were no deaths. However, “We have confirmed over a dozen deaths from this cholera outbreak, over 500 positive cases when theoretically there were only 7 and over 2000 suspects. suffer from this. These data do provide a more realistic picture of the outbreak, which justifies the extensive preventive measures taken,” says Martinez.

Pignatelli as a field hospital

And in the hospitals of Zaragoza, special wards were equipped to care for choleric patients or suspected choleric patients. “It is estimated that the hospital Miguel Servet affected about 200 people, 198 people were hospitalized with cholera in the provincial hospital, two of them are listed as dead. because of evil,” the professor continues. An old tuberculosis ward, isolated from the rest of the building, was set up there to house those affected by the new epidemic. However, “since there were so many patients, and they could not all fit in this room, they had to occupy other rooms of the hospital.”

“The tuberculosis department of the Provincial Hospital has the opportunity to admit choleric patients.”

In addition, “in the Casa Pignatelli, the former House of Mercy and hospice of the city, today known as the Pignatelli building, headquarters of the Aragon government, a convalescent unit with 300 beds was created,” he adds. They were evacuated and this large premises was converted into a hospital. A field operating room was equipped, staffed with medical personnel, and medical students were mobilized. because there were not enough doctors to serve all the arriving patients, and even Red Cross teams were stationed there,” says the head of the investigation.

“A field hospital with 300 beds was created in the building that now houses the headquarters of the Aragonese government.”

In the areas of Jalón where the outbreak occurred, there is also evidence of field hospitals such as that of Epila, “which was installed inside the monastery and in which it is estimated that fifty people were treated. According to reports, more than 350 people were injured in the Jalon Valley alone. These images remind us a lot of the Covid pandemic, when field hospitals were also set up,” he recalls.

Official decaffeinated version.

If we delve into the news of that time about the cholera outbreak, we will not find any of this data, so today it is completely new about what caused this epidemic on our territory. “They don’t appear in the news because in 1971 we were still under a dictatorship and there wasn’t much transparency in those years. The official version that has reached us does not mention deaths, and only 7 cases have been confirmed, recorded in the Jalon Valley,” says Martínez.

“The massive vaccination drive that has been launched in the province has been widely reported. There were 23 vaccination points in the capital alone. in addition to those located in the rest of the territory. It was made public,” he explains. In the capital of Aragon, memories of the previous cholera epidemic, which had hit him in 1885 and killed almost 1,400 people, Therefore, the authorities called for vaccination of all its residents.

In just two days, 429,000 people were vaccinated in Zaragoza and its province, with long queues of citizens waiting at the doors of vaccination centers waiting for their turn. By the end of the campaign, more than 600,000 citizens had received the vaccine. “The entire population of Zaragoza is virtually vaccinated and large areas of the province are fully covered. with particular attention to the Jalón region and the Ebro basin up to Caspe”, can be read on the front page of HERALDO of July 23.

Instead of, “There is no word on health care, although this was a very large outbreak. This was an emergency episode, which now, after Covid, is very familiar to us,” confirms the professor. “The most affected were the elderly and young children. Investigated records show that emergency surgeries were performed on babies to save them from cholera,” he says.

WHO top brass control epidemic

“National and international media attention and the official narrative were focused on the province of Zaragoza, but the cholera outbreak was something national. There were many cases in Barcelona, ​​but nothing came to light.”says Martinez.

This situation was enough to mobilize the authorities on our territory and abroad, given the danger that these cases were only the beginning of an epidemic that has wreaked havoc on our continent since the mid-19th century. For this reason, all eyes turned to Zaragoza. “WHO sent cholera expert and researcher Haruo Watanabe to Zaragoza. to see what was happening and learn the extent of the epidemic first hand, who was accompanied at the time by the deputy director general of this global health organization, Dr. L. Bernard– the teacher reports.

The paradox of Spain in the 70s.

“At that time, a cholera epidemic in a Western country was unusual, and it had never happened in other European countries,” says Martinez. This is because Spain has an interesting paradox: it is a country in which There are still many areas where there is no running water, where the water is undrinkable. and a meager wastewater treatment network, so the occurrence of this type of infection was quite possible.

On the contrary, “we live in a time when health care has become important, more resources are allocated to it and The country has the means and vaccines to fight the epidemic. Therefore, it is quickly controlled to avoid more infections. The imbalance that existed in Spain and the risk of cholera in our country were known to the European authorities, who already knew that this could happen and that there was a risk of cholera being transmitted to Europe through Spain,” he concludes.