The 1849 Wisconsin Asiatic Cholera Epidemic and its Implications for Genealogical Research Americans took a while to get familiar with how diseases were spread, what precautions could be taken to minimize exposure, and why vaccinations were so important. While the medical community promoted sanitation and healthy lifestyles and the US government got involved in encouraging the eradication of diseases, in 1849 and lasting about two years, Wisconsin was overtaken by a cholera epidemic that was quickly at pandemic level. Did your ancestor die of the disease? So many did that a lot of deaths escaped being recorded. Many statistics were disguised so that public panic would be minimized. Learn the facts surrounding the outbreak as well as the effect politics and economics had on how the pandemic was handled; it just might solve one of your family history dilemmas.