For two months in the heart of the Civil War, Wilmington was ravaged by a sudden and unstoppable outbreak of yellow fever. The virus infected more than 1,500 people and killed an estimated 654, turning the Port City into a ghost town of fear and panic.

In the season three premiere of Cape Fear Unearthed, we revisit the treacherous two-month chapter in local history and then talk to Eric Kozen, superintendent of Oakdale Cemetery, and David Rice, former county health director, about the tragic losses, why Wilmington was so vulnerable to the disease and how it dealt with the escalating body count.

Cape Fear Unearthed is written, edited and hosted by Hunter Ingram. Additional editing by Adam Fish.

Season three is sponsored by Northchase Family Dentistry and Tidewater Heating & Air Conditioning.

Sources:

-- Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Inc. Bulletin, Vol. X1, Nov. 1967

-- Memoir of Rev. John L. Prichard, late pastor of the First Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C., by Rev. J.D. Hufham

-- Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region, by Louis T. Moore

-- The Coastal Chronicles, Vol. 1, edited by Jack Fryar, Jr.

-- Wilmington Daily Journal editions, Aug.-Nov. 1862