History

Historical Quarantines

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Source:Community curated
Updated:3/7/2026
15/15
Quarantine
Year
Disease
Location
Known For
Venice Quarantina
1377Bubonic PlagueVenice / Ragusa (Dubrovnik)Origin of the word 'quarantine' — 40 days (quaranta giorni), ships held offshore, first organized disease isolation
Lazaretto Vecchio Island
1403PlagueVenice, ItalyWorld's first permanent quarantine station, plague victims isolated on an island, mass graves discovered recently
Great Plague of London
1665Bubonic PlagueLondon, EnglandRed cross painted on doors, 'Bring out your dead', 100,000 died, preceded the Great Fire, Eyam village self-quarantined
Yellow Fever in Philadelphia
1793Yellow FeverPhiladelphia, USAUS capital shut down, government fled, 5,000 died in 4 months, Benjamin Rush's controversial bloodletting treatments
Typhoid Mary
1907–1938Typhoid FeverNew York City, USAMary Mallon quarantined for 26 years on North Brother Island, first known asymptomatic carrier, ethics of forced isolation
Ellis Island Quarantine
1892–1954Various (trachoma, TB, cholera)New York Harbor, USAImmigrants inspected in 6-second medical exam, chalk marks on clothing, 2% turned away, gateway to America
San Francisco Chinatown Plague
1900Bubonic PlagueSan Francisco, USAEntire Chinatown cordoned off, racist enforcement targeting only Chinese residents, landmark civil rights case Wong Wai v. Williamson
1918 Spanish Flu
1918–1919Influenza (H1N1)GlobalCities that locked down early had better outcomes (St. Louis vs Philadelphia), mask mandates, 50 million dead worldwide
Gruinard Island Anthrax
1942–1990Anthrax (biological weapon test)Scotland, UKBritish military tested anthrax bombs on sheep, island quarantined for 48 years, decontaminated with formaldehyde and seawater
Eyam Plague Village
1665–1666Bubonic PlagueDerbyshire, EnglandEntire village voluntarily self-quarantined to stop plague spreading, 260 of 350 villagers died, heroic sacrifice
SARS Quarantine Toronto
2003SARSToronto, CanadaFirst major quarantine in North America in decades, 30,000 people isolated, WHO travel advisory devastated tourism
Ebola Quarantine West Africa
2014–2016EbolaSierra Leone / Liberia / GuineaEntire neighborhoods cordoned off, 3-day nationwide lockdowns, 11,000 dead, West Point slum quarantine nearly caused riot
COVID-19 Wuhan Lockdown
2020COVID-19Wuhan, ChinaFirst city-wide lockdown of 11 million people, 76 days sealed, sparked global pandemic response, unprecedented in modern history
COVID-19 Global Lockdowns
2020–2021COVID-19Global (190+ countries)3.9 billion people under stay-at-home orders simultaneously, largest quarantine in human history, remote work revolution
Australia Closed Borders
2020–2022COVID-19AustraliaEntire continent sealed for nearly 2 years, citizens couldn't leave or return, fortress mentality, Howard Springs quarantine camp

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