Cheyne introduces influenza to Pohnpei.

What happened

Hezel credits the British trader Andrew Cheyne with bringing influenza to Pohnpei in 1843, a decade before the smallpox epidemic. Cheyne’s brig Naiad spent six weeks at Pohnpei that year setting up bêche-de-mer curing stations staffed by Palauans and lascars; the MicSem ship list notes that Cheyne’s own account describes dysentery on Pohnpei in 1843 and influenza in 1845.