Daily AncestorCholera morbus
Cholera morbus was an 1800s term for acute stomach and bowel illness with vomiting and diarrhea, what we would call gastroenteritis, not epidemic cholera.
Cholera morbus described a sudden attack of vomiting, diarrhea and cramps. In English usage from the 1830s it was kept apart from Asiatic cholera, the epidemic disease that swept the country in waves.
Today the illness would usually be called gastroenteritis. When you see cholera morbus, do not assume your ancestor died in a cholera epidemic unless other evidence shows it.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Wm. Burr, 48, M, W, Married, Conn., August, Cholera morbus, 2 days
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Daily Ancestor. "Cholera morbus." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/cholera-morbus. Last checked 2026-10-01.