Bianchine P J, Russo T A
Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Allergy Proc. 1992 Sep-Oct;13(5):225-32. doi: 10.2500/108854192778817040.
As the world prepares to celebrate the quincentennial events surrounding the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, a particular interest regarding the influence of epidemic infectious diseases on the history of the conquest of America has emerged. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the European guns or fierce soldiers that conquered the native Americans, but instead it was the common childhood illnesses brought from the Old World by the European conquistadors. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, and typhus annihilated most of the American native populations. Devastating epidemics resulted throughout the New World. We will review the consequences of introducing new infectious agents into a nonimmune population, discuss the major pathogens that were imported from the Old World, and focus on how these diseases may have affected the aboriginal depopulation of the Americas.
当世界准备庆祝围绕1492年克里斯托弗·哥伦布发现新大陆的五百周年纪念活动时，人们对流行性传染病对美洲征服历史的影响产生了特别的兴趣。与普遍看法相反，征服美洲原住民的并非欧洲的枪炮或勇猛的士兵，而是欧洲征服者从旧世界带来的常见儿童疾病。天花、麻疹和斑疹伤寒等疾病消灭了大部分美洲原住民人口。整个新大陆都爆发了毁灭性的流行病。我们将回顾将新的传染源引入无免疫力人群的后果，讨论从旧世界传入的主要病原体，并重点关注这些疾病可能如何影响美洲原住民的人口减少。
