The serious infectious diseases, and especially cholera, became a scourge of the 19th century. Cholera originated in India and first showed up in Europe in 1817. The second large epidemic came in 1832. In 1848 the third one occurred, this time with a boat from England. The epidemic raged from Gulen in Sognefjorden to Egersund. From Bergen the disease spread to the communities around. It also touched Espevær on Bømlo, in the middle of the herring fisheries in 1849, and from there it spread further afield with the fishermen.
The preventative measures against cholera were primarily to find suitable areas for burial. There are very few cholera graveyards in the country outside Hordaland.
