Coastal Bend Chronicle: Disease and Illness in the Americas before Columbus

The cause of population decline among the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas after the coming of Christopher Columbus has long been attributed to the advent of the European epidemic diseases. These diseases were smallpox, influenza, measles, typhus, cholera, mumps, yellow fever, pneumonia, whooping cough, and tuberculosis, which were chronic in Europe and Asia. The combined impact of all these diseases was to cause the deaths of 80 to 90 percent of the indigenous American population within about 100 years. Estimates of the pre-Columbian population in the Americas are uncertain, but a number of 50 million is possible. By 1650, only about eight million were left.

The source of these diseases among Europeans was transmission from domestic animals: cows, sheep, goats and others. For example, the domestic cow was the source of smallpox. Europeans had several thousand years of contact with these animals and the sensitive population had already died. The Europeans that survived had some resistance to the disease and this resistance increased over the generations by natural selection. Since the Native Americans had very few domestic animals, they were very susceptible to these European diseases.

Archeologists and other medical scientist have tried to determine the diseases native to North and South America before Columbus. One of these was a particularly virulent form of syphilis. Syphilis was native to the Americas, so Europeans had no resistance to it. Syphilis became rampant in the Old World after 1492 and the affected Europeans often died of it within a few months. But syphilis seems to be the only major disease brought back to Europe and Asia from the Americas.

The list of other diseases and chronic illnesses found to be present in the New World is very long: malaria, tuberculosis, anemia, epilepsy, typhus, scurvy, anthrax, hemorrhagic fever (cocaliztii in Aztec), intestinal parasites, pneumonia, meningitis, dysentery, gall bladder disease, Chagas disease, yellow fever (“black vomit”), head lice and dental caries. Interestingly, pet howler monkeys were the source of malaria in ancient Peru. To this might be added ailments of a psychosomatic origin, such as susto or magical fright. All this has been determined from study of Spanish records, some skeletons, mummified remains, coprolites (fossilized dung), and effigies (pottery and drawings). Acute diseases and skin lesions would not generally be detected by these methods. The Spanish conquistadors destroyed most native records as being “the work of the devil.”

The Aztec had a very extensive apothecary of 204 medicinal plants and herbs and a sophistication in medicine that surprised the Spanish. The art of surgery in South America was highly developed, including limb amputation and trepanning, or cutting out large circles of bone in the living skull. But medical skills were highly variable across various native populations and ineffective against the European diseases.

The hunter-gather groups were actually healthier than the more highly-developed agricultural societies. They avoided most of the intestinal parasites that came with crowded living and poor community hygiene. And their diet, while more meager, was more varied. Agriculture and “civilization” promoted a more sedentary lifestyle. Hunter-gatherer groups also tended to be more widely dispersed. Dental caries increased with the introduction of corn into the diet. While agriculture brought many advantages to those who evolved into our modern society, better health was not one of them.

Herndon Williams is affiliated with the Bayside Historical Society and the Refugio
County Historical Commission. He can be reached at coastalbendchronicle@yahoo.com

By C. Herndon Williams, Ph.D.

The cause of population decline among the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas after the coming of Christopher Columbus has long been attributed to the advent of the European epidemic diseases. These diseases were smallpox, influenza, measles, typhus, cholera, mumps, yellow fever, pneumonia, whooping cough, and tuberculosis, which were chronic in Europe and Asia. The combined impact of all these diseases was to cause the deaths of 80 to 90 percent of the indigenous American population within about 100 years. Estimates of the pre-Columbian population in the Americas are uncertain, but a number of 50 million is possible. By 1650, only about eight million were left.

The source of these diseases among Europeans was transmission from domestic animals: cows, sheep, goats and others. For example, the domestic cow was the source of smallpox. Europeans had several thousand years of contact with these animals and the sensitive population had already died. The Europeans that survived had some resistance to the disease and this resistance increased over the generations by natural selection. Since the Native Americans had very few domestic animals, they were very susceptible to these European diseases.

Archeologists and other medical scientist have tried to determine the diseases native to North and South America before Columbus. One of these was a particularly virulent form of syphilis. Syphilis was native to the Americas, so Europeans had no resistance to it. Syphilis became rampant in the Old World after 1492 and the affected Europeans often died of it within a few months. But syphilis seems to be the only major disease brought back to Europe and Asia from the Americas.

The list of other diseases and chronic illnesses found to be present in the New World is very long: malaria, tuberculosis, anemia, epilepsy, typhus, scurvy, anthrax, hemorrhagic fever (cocaliztii in Aztec), intestinal parasites, pneumonia, meningitis, dysentery, gall bladder disease, Chagas disease, yellow fever (“black vomit”), head lice and dental caries. Interestingly, pet howler monkeys were the source of malaria in ancient Peru. To this might be added ailments of a psychosomatic origin, such as susto or magical fright. All this has been determined from study of Spanish records, some skeletons, mummified remains, coprolites (fossilized dung), and effigies (pottery and drawings). Acute diseases and skin lesions would not generally be detected by these methods. The Spanish conquistadors destroyed most native records as being “the work of the devil.”

The Aztec had a very extensive apothecary of 204 medicinal plants and herbs and a sophistication in medicine that surprised the Spanish. The art of surgery in South America was highly developed, including limb amputation and trepanning, or cutting out large circles of bone in the living skull. But medical skills were highly variable across various native populations and ineffective against the European diseases.

The hunter-gather groups were actually healthier than the more highly-developed agricultural societies. They avoided most of the intestinal parasites that came with crowded living and poor community hygiene. And their diet, while more meager, was more varied. Agriculture and “civilization” promoted a more sedentary lifestyle. Hunter-gatherer groups also tended to be more widely dispersed. Dental caries increased with the introduction of corn into the diet. While agriculture brought many advantages to those who evolved into our modern society, better health was not one of them.

Herndon Williams is affiliated with the Bayside Historical Society and the Refugio
County Historical Commission. He can be reached at coastalbendchronicle@yahoo.com