Hanna Moser
Smallpox Eradicate Humans, Humans Eradicate Smallpox
Smallpox is a familiar disease that has prominently affected many lives in many generations of human beings. The earliest case of smallpox rose in the ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus River Valley (Aberth 73). Smallpox is a viral disease that disperses into two different forms: Variola major and Variola minor (Aberth 74).Those who contracted Variola minor had a higher chance of survival due to the one percent mortality rate and those who survived became immune to both strands of the disease (Aberth 74). The disease brings many symptoms; some more violent than others. Before experiencing any symptoms, the victim typically experiences a period of incubation for nine to twelve days. (Aberth 75). After this period, the victim experiences the first wave of symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea. Then, a “rash of small reddish spots appear” everywhere on the human body that form into “pustulesfilled with fluid” (Aberth 75). And in order for the victims to survive, “the pustules scab over and fall off, leaving deep pitted scars, possible blindness and lifelong immunity to the virus” (Barnard 12). Although immunity is a possible outcome from smallpox, the suffering and altering impacts to the victim scar them forever. Smallpox destroyed the livelihood of the human race and in response, humans triumphed to eradicate the smallpox virus.
Smallpox produced a large global effect due to the massive contagion rate that this disease possesses. The virus is spread through the scabs and bodily fluids that the victims produce- making this disease communicable through direct contact (Aberth 75). The rapid diffusion of smallpox spiraled into the mass contagion of the disease. In Mexico circa 1500-1600, the decline of the native population was “anywhere from 67 to 98 percent” and the decline of the native population in South America was “somewhere between 70 and 98 percent” (Aberth 79). Smallpox wiped out more people than the Bubonic Plague. This catastrophic event was demoralizing compared to the Bubonic Plague because the mortality rate from the plague was thirty-three percent compared to almost three times as many deaths from smallpox.
Historically, there were major epidemics of smallpox around the world. First, the Plague of Athens of 430-426 B.C.E. coincided with war and wiped out the majority of the population (Aberth 76). The next outbreak, similar to the Plague of Athens, was the Plague of Antonines and “struck the Roman Empire beginning in 165 C.E.” (Aberth 77). These outbreaks dated prior to the most detrimental pandemic outbreak in human history- smallpox in the Americas. In the fifteenth century, the Spaniards ventured from the main land in pursuit of expanding their reign. Europe was more technologicallyadvanced than the Americas at this point and they had the most important factor of immunity. The Europeans spread smallpox to the Native Americans and their arrival “was like the detonation of a biological bomb” (Barnard 10). The Native Americas had never been exposed to a disease as severe as smallpox, resulting in the demise of many civilizations. The civilizations that were affected most were the Aztecs in Mexico, the Incans in Peru, and the Native Americans in North America.
The Europeans couldn’t have conquered North America alone. The timing of the conquest aided the Europeans and they utilized these factors to their advantage. At the time, the Mexican and Peruvian empires were densely populated. These Old-World civilizations utilized the “two most important American food crops, maize and potatoes” (McNeil 179). These foods were particularly important because the nutrients these foods contain allow populations to be supported on less food. Therefore, a “denser population per square mile of cultivated grounds in the Americas” was prevalent (McNeil 179). With a denser population, smallpox was able to diffuse rapidly because the proximity from person to person was closer together. The next factor that was an advantage to the Europeans was the exposure to domesticated animals. In Europe, humans were more exposed to other mammals who carried diseases compared to the avoidance of contact in the Americas. This relates to the food production in the Americas because they had enough food to thrive from, unlike the Europeans who often had food shortages and were often exposed to animals through dietary consumption (McNeil 178). In retrospect, smallpox is linked to humans through contact with cattle and the Europeans were more familiar with domesticated animals which helped them develop their immunity (Aberth 74). The concept of immunity also favored the Europeans because the Americas were considered “virgin soil” (Barnard 13). This concept further emphasizes that the Europeans were immune to smallpox and the Americans were not. All of these factors contribute to the mass mortality rate that the smallpox virus produced.
The massive mortality rate shook the global society indefinitely. Society responded in a variety of ways to the possible eradication of the human race by smallpox. Scientifically, humans developed the process of inoculation. Inoculation is the “deliberate introduction of weakened form of smallpox into the patient” with hopes that the patient contracts a mild case and develops an immunity (Aberth 85). This process was a medical advancement that granted more immunity to humans, although they still risked contracting the disease. In addition, the cowpox vaccine was introduced harmlessly to humans, resulting in immunity. These techniques were more medically advanced than the previous pandemic of the Bubonic Plague. During the plague ages, scientific exploration was discriminated and this enhanced the infection rate. Victims of smallpox are more fortunate because inoculation and vaccination had been introduced to society. The religious aspect of the smallpox pandemic influenced the course of the disease primarily through interpretation. In regards to inoculation, “religious officials were worried that without the disease as a whip, people wouldn’t fear God” (Barnard 15). Society viewed disease as an overall punishment and turned to religion to answer their problems with disease. Science expands the knowledge base of society and this is a threat to multiple religions because empirical evidence proves the biological factors disease, not God. This commences the idea that smallpox is prying at the interpretation of religion and altering society. Smallpox was also interpreted differently by the Europeans and the Americans. The Europeans were led to believe that God “seemed to favor the whites” (McNeil 184) and that his “wrath was visited upon the Indians with an unrelenting harshness” (McNeil 184). Both groups thought differently based on their perspectives when they both were ignorant to the microbiology behind smallpox. McNeil describes the Indians interpretation of smallpox as an “unambiguous form of divine punishment (183) and this demoralized the American populations.
The demoralization of the American population destroyed the livelihood of humanity and influenced the psychological collapse that spread across the world. With a ninety percent mortality rate (McNeil 180), the survivors became susceptible to pain and further suffering. The Europeans account on natives often committing suicide, [performing] self-inflict[ed] abortions, [refusing] to reproduce, and other symptoms of a demoralized and defeated mentality” (Aberth 83). The arrival of smallpox completely affected the native’s mentality because the majority of people around them were dying and they knew that they could be infected as well. In addition to destroying human’s will to live, smallpox also destroyed the economic aspect of society. There was “massive emptying out of older urban centers” (McNeil 182) and no population to complete the labor that needed to be done in order to run a functioning society. No one swamped to the cities in search for occupational opportunities because that’s where smallpox flourished most- in close proximity. The major population decrease resulted in an economic collapse of dysfunction. Overall, smallpox destroyed human’s will to live, destroyed the economy, destroyed the beliefs of society, and destroyed the population all together.
A recent account of Charles Barber, a 69-year-old San Antonio resident, explains the suffering he endured in the 1949 smallpox outbreak. Barber watched his mother die and his family suffer because he was the caregiver (Ornstein 1). The isolation that he faced imposed emotional stress on Barber because they were quarantined away from each other for eight weeks (Ornstein 1). This precaution was taken because “for every person infected, they were likely to infect at least an additional 10” (Ornstein 1). With the severity of smallpox, Barber was emotionally scarred forever because he had to witness his loved ones suffer and he could do nothing about it. Similar to the historical effect, the psychological aspect of smallpox is grueling to endure because the mortality rate is so high that it’s almost inevitable for one to be impacted by smallpox in one way or another. From Barber’s account, we learned that smallpox is a serious disease that is highly contagious and emotionally exacerbating.
Humanity’s response to the devastation of small was to eradicate smallpox. Smallpox was eradicated from the wild in the twentieth century and only exists in two places today: the freezer’s belonging to the United States and the other belonging to Russia (Barnard 15). This eradication of smallpox shows how advanced society has become and in spite of the previous torturous impacts, smallpox is conquered by humans to this date.
Today, there are still many unanswered questions about smallpox even though the disease is mostly controlled. We don’t know what happened to the dead bodies- Were they buried by the Europeans? Did the bodies lay there to rot and expose the virus to other mammals? No one really knows what happened to the bodies when people died. Another pressing question- will smallpox ever be in the wild again? Will the two countries use it as bioterrorism? Is there an unknown source somewhere in the world of smallpox?
Works Cited
Aberth, John. Plagues in World History. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2011.
Barnard, Bryn. Outbreak. Plagues That Changed History. Dragonfly Books. 2005.
McNeill, William H. Plagues and Peoples. Anchor Books, 1976.
Ornstein, Charles. Chicago Tribune. 6 November 2001.
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