Cholera epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky

Cholera epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky was a major cholera epidemic in 1833. An estimated 502 out of 7,000 people died as a result of this epidemic and resulted in major changes in the city. Cholera is "an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the toxigenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1 or O139".

At the time, the city's economy revolved around the production of tobacco and hemp. Lexington's trade ships transported these agricultural products through the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and the Atlantic Ocean. Cholera is thought to have made its way to the city through its trade system.

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