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Volume 20, Number 3—March 2014
Historical Review

Drought and Epidemic Typhus, Central Mexico, 1655–1918

Jordan N. BurnsComments to Author , Rodolfo Acuna-Soto, and David W. Stahle
Author affiliations: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA (J.N. Burns, D.W. Stahle); Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico (R. Acuna-Soto)

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Figure 2

A) Superposed epoch analysis (20) of summer Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for central Mexico averaged for the 22 periods that had typhus epidemics (1655, 1710–1712, 1714, 1742, 1761–1762, 1785–1787, 1799–1802, 1805–1806, 1811–1812, 1821–1823, 1825–1828, 1835–1838, 1847–1848, 1861–1864, 1865–1868, 1870–1873, 1875–1877, 1884–1886, 1894–1895, 1902–1903, 1909–1911, and 1915–1918). Horizontal line indicates PDSI = 0. JJ, June–July; JJA, June–July–August. B) Superimposed epoch analysis of June–

Figure 2. . . . A) Superposed epoch analysis (20) of summer Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for central Mexico averaged for the 22 periods that had typhus epidemics (1655, 1710–1712, 1714, 1742, 1761–1762, 1785–1787, 1799–1802, 1805–1806, 1811–1812, 1821–1823, 1825–1828, 1835–1838, 1847–1848, 1861–1864, 1865–1868, 1870–1873, 1875–1877, 1884–1886, 1894–1895, 1902–1903, 1909–1911, and 1915–1918). Horizontal line indicates PDSI = 0. JJ, June–July; JJA, June–July–August. B) Superimposed epoch analysis of June–July PDSI for east-central Mexico also averaged for the 22 periods that had typhus epidemics. Superimposed epoch analyses were performed by using the Dendrochronology Program Library (21,22). Horizontal line indicates mean PDSI.

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