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information, you may want to read these articles in their entirety.
"Beyond the human-engineered biowarfare, there is another type of
pestilence waiting as well. This one lives in nature and could erupt
at any time, according to scientists who study the subject.
'Eighty years ago a sudden mutation in the virus that causes influenza
initiated a worldwide epidemic that in only 18 months killed an
estimated 25 to 40 million people around the world. Many consider this
to be the worst natural disaster in history' (Hillary J. Johnson,
'Killer Flu,' Rolling Stone, Jan. 22, 1998).
Some historians feel this epidemic hastened the end of World War I."
United Church of God: Visions of Judgment: The Pale Horse of Pestilence
http://www.ucg.org.uk/Watchit/wnp0305/palehorse0305.htm
"Although many lives were lost during World War I combat, the Spanish
Flu epidemic of 1918-1919 also killed many soldiers. In fact, more
American soldiers died from this influenza than from combat injuries.
The Spanish Flu killed an estimated 40 million people throughout the
world, mostly children and young men and women, and led to the end of
the war."
Hillyard: Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.hillyard.com/FAQ/DisplayAnswer.asp?id=58
"430 BC, the plague of Athens--resulted from 200,000 inhabitants and
villagers fleeing into Athens when threatened by the Spartans. An
unidentified infectious agent, from Ethiopia via Egypt, killed one
third of this population and ended the Golden Age of Athens.
166 AD, the Antonine plague--was brought to Rome from Syria by
returning Roman troops. The plague had been introduced to Syria from
India by the marauding Huns. The plague (probably small pox, bubonic
plague, and measles) devastated the Roman Empire, killing 4 - 7
million people throughout Europe. The resulting social and political
upheaval led to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Circa 160 AD, bubonic plague (?Barbarian boils?)--carried by invaders
from the north, led to the collapse of the Han Empire in China.
1346 to 1350, bubonic plague--the pandemic started in China and moved
along the trade routes through South Russia to the Crimea, which was
besieged at the time. This bubonic plague killed more than one third
of the population of Europe.
1492, influenza, small pox, tuberculosis and gonorrhea--began when
Columbus went to the Caribbean. The local inhabitants did not have
immunity to these endemic European infections, and as a consequence,
the 8 million people on the island of Hispaniola (where Columbus first
set foot in the New World) died. Replacement of the population by
African slaves introduced African infectious diseases such as malaria
and yellow fever into the Caribbean and Americas, which, in turn,
killed many European settlers.
1542, bubonic plague--started in Egypt, killed 40% of the population
of Constantinople, and spread all over Europe."
Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation: A Brief History of Infectious Disease
http://www.bayerpharma-na.com/healthcare/hc0102.asp
"According to [Michael] Oldstone, African slaves were highly prized in
the Americas because they were resistant to many diseases that the
Europeans were not. Similarly, he talks about early efforts at
biological warfare, such as occurred in American where Indians where
purposefully given blankets used by smallpox victims, in the hope that
the Indians would catch the disease. And that Napoleon primarily sold
Louisiana to the U.S. because Yellow Fever was endemic to the area and
it was not worth the effort to keep it."
Large Print Reviews: Viruses, Plagues and History
http://www.largeprintreviews.com/oldstone.html
"On previously unexposed populations [smallpox] was deadly - the
Spaniards took it with them to the Americas in 1519 (probably via the
children of settlers) where it had a major impact on the Amerindian
population and was almost certainly the key factor by which Spain
conquered its empire. However it is possible that a more virulent
strain developed during the early days of the African slave trade
which recrossed the Atlantic sometime in the 17th century."
Manx Notebook: Disease
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/famhist/genealgy/diseases.htm
"During the 16th and 17th centuries, a time when Europeans made
journeys of exploration and conquest to the Americas and other
continents, smallpox went with them. By 1518 the disease reached the
Americas aboard a Spanish ship that landed at the island of Hispaniola
(now the Dominican Republic and Haiti) in the West Indies. Before long
smallpox had killed half of the Taíno people, the native population of
the island. The disease followed the Spanish conquistadors into Mexico
and Central America in 1520. With fewer than 500 men, the Spanish
explorer Hernán Cortés was able to conquer the great Aztec Empire
under the emperor Montezuma in what is now Mexico. One of Cortés's men
was infected with smallpox, triggering an epidemic that ultimately
killed an estimated 3 million Aztecs, one-third of the population. A
similar path of devastation was left among the people of the Inca
Empire of South America. Smallpox killed the Inca emperor Huayna Capac
in 1525, along with an estimated 100,000 Incas in the capital city of
Cuzco. The Incas and Aztecs are only two of many examples of smallpox
cutting a swath through a native population in the Americas, easing
the way for Europeans to conquer and colonize new territory. It can
truly be said that smallpox changed history."
Encarta: Smallpox
http://encarta.msn.com/text_761578931___1/Smallpox.html
"In some cases we can identify with various degrees of certainty which
infection caused the death or suffering of famous people. Pharao
Ramses I may have suffered from Ear infection (Source: CNN) and Ramses
Vprobably died from it (Source: Stanford Uni). Alexander the Great
died of an infection of the lungs, possibly pneumoniae or TB; before
him, his dear friend Hephaistion probably died of typhoid fever,
according to the symptoms described of his death bed. Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus, a Roman Emporer, died (in 169 AD), with thousands of his
soldiers and citizens, during an epidemic of presumably measles or
smallpox (both viral infections). The conquistadores in the
newly-discovered America's used their weapons freely, however their
diseases were their strongest weapons (Source: Palomar College).
Measles is still a deadly dangerous disease in the absence of
vaccination (Source: CDC, this is a PDF). Amadeus Mozart may have
died of rheumatic fever which is caused by a prior infection (Source:
Cornell News).Several famous people (for instance the composer Franz
Schubert (Source: Naxos Digital Services) suffered from syphilus,
which was lethal in pre-antibiotic days."
Bacteria Museum: Bacterial Diseases in History
http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/niches/features/diseasehistory.shtml
"Mary II (of the College of William & Mary) died of typhoid fever.
(William died later of injuries from falling off a horse while
hunting.) Two hundred years later, Wilbur Wright died of typhoid four
years after the events at Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills.
Plague or ebola killed more than half of Athenians, including
Pericles, leading to the fall of Athens.
Roman fell presumably from lead poisoning of its ruling classes:
infertility and early death. But this happened not before anthrax
killed tens of thousands in 125 AD. Roman influence in North Africa
ended when nearly a million died of malaria. As many as 2,000 died per
day in Rome in 169 AD of plague - including Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The Holy Roman Empire under Justinian in 540 AD was ravaged by bubonic
plague. More than 10,000 died per day in Central Europe. During these
years, Judeo-Christian medicine supplanted prevailing folk remedies,
and resulted in many converts to Judeism and Christendom.
Measles and smallpox wiped out 95% of native South Americans in the
early 1500's leaving the continent safe for the Spanish to settle with
families. For example, Cortez took over Mexico City when 1,000 Aztecs
per day were dying. The Spanish were thought to be gods because the
disease didn't affect them. Elsewhere, North American natives, who
were much more resistant to these diseases, required another 100 years
until better armament allowed Europeans to make inroads against
natives possessing the powerful long-bow.
At least one person aboard Columbus's first returning ship carried
syphilis, which rapidly spread and generally killed within several
months. Henry VIII seemed to have syphilis as a complicating factor
later in his life, which ended in 1547.
Seventy percent of the 300,000 core troops that marched with Napoleon
out of France died of typhus before reaching Moscow. Moscovites locked
the French out for a couple of more weeks, allowing typhus to kill
nearly half of the remaining invaders. So Napoleon took Moscow with
less than 50,000 troops."
Science Projects: Examples of How Disease Altered History
http://www.science-projects.com/Pathlets.htm
Some useful sites:
Website of Colin Bignell: Disease in History
http://www.bignell.uk.com/disease_in_history.htm
University of Illinois at Chicago: Famous Diseases in History
http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/4_1%20Famour%20Diseases%20in%20History.htm
Karolinska Institute: History of Diseases
http://www.mic.ki.se/HistDis.html
Montana State University: Insects, Disease, and History
http://scarab.msu.montana.edu/historybug/
MedHist: Epidemics
http://medhist.ac.uk/browse/mesh/C0012652L0012652.html
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "disease OR diseases in history"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22disease+OR+diseases+in+history
Google Web Search: "disease OR diseases" + "changed history"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22disease+OR+diseases%22+%22changed+history
I hope this helps. If anything is unclear, or if a link doesn't work
for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further
assistance before you rate my answer.
Google Web Search: epidemic OR plague OR pandemic history
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=epidemic+OR+plague+OR+pandemic+history
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
