Syphilis alone matched all other soldier ailments combined in Syria

Evidence

Early in 1826 the Pasha wrote to his agent in Istanbul asking him to find a doctor capable of dealing with scabies and venereal diseases since, as he said, “although we have doctors who are adept in dealing with a variety of diseases, we lack doctors knowledgeable about treating these two ailments.” … During a particular medical examination, the number of patients afflicted with syphilis was equal to the number of all other patients put together. … Eventually, and as evidence that these two ailments received particular attention, the pre-printed daily reports of the hospitals in Syria had separate entries for them in which the director of the hospital simply filled in the number of syphilitic and scabietic soldiers. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1122

Categorization

• SEED: The scale of venereal disease among a 19th-century conscript army — syphilis equaling all other casualties combined — could anchor an article about disease as a hidden determinant of military capacity.