"The Origin of Cabin Fever"

The first reported "case" of cabin fever dates back to 1862.

The Jecks, an early frontier family, built a log cabin out of bulsum wood, the bark of which was infected with saratosis, a white moss-like fungus. Over the winter months, the saratosis caused their skin to break out in a painfully itchy, burning rash. It got so bad that they finally fled and were discovered by surveyors, passed out in the snow. The Jecks eventually recovered, but their fevers were from the colds they caught while lying in the snow, not the cabin.