Cholera was primarily a disease of the 19th century, yet in 1971, Italian health authorities issued a circular warning doctors about the risk of a cholera resurgence. This concern stemmed from two factors: the hot season and poor hygienic conditions in various parts of the country. However, this warning was largely ignored.  

On August 27, the prefect of Naples, Michele Amari, sent a telegram to the Interior Ministry’s office, reporting that two elderly women had died that day in a hospital in Torre del Greco from a suspected cholera-like syndrome, while nine others had been hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis.  

In Naples, a frenzy erupted over lemons, as their antibacterial properties led people to consider them the "antibiotics of the poor." This belief even drove lemons onto the black market at exorbitant prices. Simultaneously, there was a rush for vaccines, with vaccination centers overwhelmed, and a desperate hunt for the source of the outbreak—leading to widespread blame placed on mussels, which were seen as the primary culprits.  

The cause of the outbreak was attributed to dire sanitary conditions. In Naples, garbage collection was irregular, and large amounts of untreated sewage were openly discharged into the sea due to the lack of purification facilities. Mussels, cultivated along polluted coastlines, absorbed the filth and fed on it, becoming vectors of contamination.  

The fear of cholera spread across Italy, with people seeing the disease everywhere—even in places where it was unlikely to be present.  

Authorities responded with a mass vaccination campaign. Since antibiotics were scarce, lemons were widely used to reassure the public and quell anxieties.