TheGreat Plague of 1738 was an outbreak of thebubonic plague between 1738 and 1740 that affected areas of theHabsburg Empire, now in the modern nations ofRomania,Hungary,Ukraine,Serbia,Croatia,Slovakia,Czechia, andAustria. Although no exact figure is available, the epidemic likely killed over 50,000 people.[citation needed]
In February 1738, the plague hit theBanat region, having been spread there by theImperial Army.[1]
According to the 1740 Hungarian Diet, the Great Plague claimed 36,000 lives.[2]
Southeastern Transylvania may have been the hardest area hit. Over the following eight years, the plague killed a sixth of the population ofTimișoara. Timișoara'sSt. Mary and St. John of Nepomuk Monument is dedicated to the plague's victims. The plague would return to hit the city again in 1762–1763.[3]
Other cities in the region were also stricken. Between October 1737 and April 1738, 111 deaths were reported inZărneşti, and 70 inCodlea.[2] More than 10% of the population ofCluj-Napoca was reported to have been killed by the pandemic.[4]
The disease's spread extended to theAdriatic. It made its way to the island ofBrač in modern-day Croatia.[5]
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