English Sweat Outbreak

Outbreaks of the deadly English sweat occurred from 1485 to 1551. The disease caused profuse sweating and sometimes led to rapid death. The pathogen behind it remains a mystery more than five centuries later. After raging for more than 60 years, the “English sweat” simply vanished. It was confined to England, except in 1528–29, when it spread to the European continent.