31 oct 1519 año - Smallpox 1519
Descripción:
Even though smallpox has existed for thousands and thousands of years, smallpox is significant to this time due to its introduction into the Americas and Mexico, playing an important role in the eventual fall of the Aztec Empire. Hernando Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who arrived in Mexico in 1519 with “550 soldiers, 16 horses, 14 canons, and a few dogs” but also brought this virus to Mexico. Due to this, millions of people were affected and died. The population of Tenochtitlan fell from 15 million people (before the Spanish arrived) to 1 million people (after the fall of the empire).
Smallpox was also used as biological warfare against Native Americans by the British during the Siege of Fort Pitt in 1763. Small pox was transferred to Native Americans by British soldiers giving Native Americans Infected fomites such as blankets. Smallpox has an incubation period of about 7-10 days and there are two forms of this disease including Variola Major and Variola Minor. Variola Major is more common, more severe, originated from epidemics in Asia, and has a fatality rate of about 30% while the Variola Minor is less common, less severe, originated in South Africa and has a fatality rate of about 1%. This disease has since been eradicated and there have been zero cases of smallpox since 1980.
Symptoms: The most common symptoms of smallpox include fever / flu-like symptoms, the development of a rash and bumps that eventually scab over, typically on the arms and legs. There is no treatment for smallpox once you are diagnosed with it, however, there is a vaccine that you can get to prevent it. If you breathe in the virus, the pathogens can land on oral / respiratory mucosal cells, causing the infection. Coughing, sneezing, and face to face contact between people also contributed to the spread of this disease and is not known to be hosted in animals.
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