The Impact Of Infectious Disease In The — страница 4

Columbus’ first return voyage in 1493 but by the return of the second voyage in 1496, syphilis was already spreading through Europe. By 1498, syphilis had arrived in India with Vasco de Gama and in 1505 arrived in China and Japan. However devastating syphilis was to Europe it cannot be compared to the effect that infectious diseases had on the New World. “Biologically, this was the most spectacular thing that has ever happened to humans.” (2) Infectious disease brought over by the Europeans decimated the indigenous populations and enabled the conquering of civilizations that greatly outnumbered the arriving forces. Nor was the impact of smallpox and other diseases short -lived. “After 1492, it would take nearly 500 years of exposure to repeated epidemics and the advent of

modern medicine, before their populations would begin to rebound.(6) Epidemic Timetable 1518 – Smallpox hits Espaniola. 1520 – Mexico with Cortes 1525, 26 – Peru, Pizarro conquers Cuzco 1530,31 – Measles hits Mexico and Peru 1546 – Typhus arrives 1556-60 – Influenza hits Europe and Japan 1558,59 – Influenza hits the New World 16th and 17th c. – Diphtheria, mumps, smallpox(again), and Influenza(again)(1) ———————————————————————— 1. McNeill, William. Plagues and Peoples. 2 .Cowley, Geoffrey. The Great Disease Migration. Newsweek, Fall-Winter 1991 vol. 118, pg.54 . 3. Lunenfeld, Marvin. 1492 Discovery, Invasion, Encounter. Lexington, Mass. and Toronto, D.C. Heath and Company, 1991. 4. Bedini, Silvio A., Editor. The

Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Vol 1. New York, NY, Simon and Schuster, 1992 5. Sale, Kirkpatrick. The Conquest of Paradise, Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy. New York, NY, Penguin Group, 1990 6. Meltzer, David J. How Columbus Sickened the New World. New Scientist, Oct. 10, 1992 v. 136 pg. 38