Mosquitoes, leeches and medicine in Charleston, South Carolina (1670-1861).

Charleston, South Carolina, USA has a rich history extending over 300 years. The plantations of the Carolina Low Country produced rice, indigo and cotton. Mosquitoes, which abounded in the wetlands, transmitted diseases such as Yellow Fever and epidemics occurred almost every year. African slaves, however, had a natural immunity to the disease and, together with the climate and the nature of the work, this shaped the economic and social system of the area. Physicians offered all sorts of cures to deal with the medical problems of the area and apothecaries also sold many nostrums including leeches. Newspaper advertisements reveal that these bloodsuckers were extensively used for many decades.