HEALTH authorities' responses to a smallpox outbreak nearly 150 years ago bear some striking resemblances to the COVID-19 epidemic, historians pouring through Bendigo records say.
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They are presenting some broad overviews of what they have found in a public talk taking place on Thursday afternoon, with more perspectives to follow in a fortnight.
Many of the health responses to a smallpox outbreak in 1872 are the same, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre archive officer Desiree Pettit-Keating said.
"People were very conscious of hygiene ... they engaged a dedicated cabin where they could house doctors and nurses to isolate from the broader community," she said.
"They also kept really extensive records."
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The outbreak began when a miner and his family arrived in town. They had sailed into the colony of Victoria on a ship with sick passengers.
"A couple of his children died, the authorities were notified and straight-away they set up a sanatorium where people could hopefully get better but certainly be isolated," Ms Pettit-Keating said.
Pharmacists began reporting shortages of hand sanitiser and other items and authorities began drawing up plans to fumigate buildings.
They also kicked off a vaccination campaign, which prompted letters in newspapers from anti-vaxxers.
Elsewhere, builders erecting the sanatorium were delayed when protesters from nearby properties arrived.
They were concerned that health professionals might use water from a nearby well, which would have increased the risk of the outbreak spreading.
Smallpox had a 30 per cent mortality rate as well as a high transmission rate.
"So I would imagine it would have been a very scary thing to break out in your community," Ms Pettit-Keating said.
Police were called in to give workers the space they needed to finish building the sanatorium. A water tank was installed.
Ultimately, Ms Pettit-Keating said authorities acted quickly and efficiently.
"Some of the things they did are ones we still do today - and they definitely helped - but there was a lot of luck involved too in avoiding this becoming a widespread pandemic through the area," she said.
"There were a couple of cases in Long Gully, another few in Jobs Gully and closer into town, but they got on top of it and stamped it out more or less straight away."
Ms Pettit-Keating said the research was not a complete picture but could inspire local historians to dig further, including into the "correspondence" file Bendigo's councils compiled as they monitored issues throughout the district.
"Our 19th century collection is full and all here. It's available to members of the public and it has the most amazing bits and pieces, including a fortnightly return from the area's health officers," she said.
"There's no doubt holes and things that people will be able to correct or expand on."
Discovering History: History Never Repeats presentation begins on Thursday at 5.30pm. Bookings are required. For more information, click here.
A second presentation by historians titled Diseases of the Past will take place on Tuesday February 16, and will uncover how diseases have shaped our history. For more information, click here.