Daily AncestorBloody flux
Bloody flux is the old name for dysentery, an intestinal infection causing diarrhea with blood, common in camps, ships and crowded towns.
Bloody flux was the traditional English name for dysentery. The infection inflames the bowel and produces frequent diarrhea containing blood, with fever and cramps.
It spreads through contaminated water and food and did most harm where people lived crowded together. Several different germs cause dysentery, which nobody at the time could tell apart.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Martha Cole, 6, F, W, Ala., September, Bloody flux, 12 days
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Daily Ancestor. "Bloody flux." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/bloody-flux. Last checked 2026-10-01.