National Geographic - USA (2020-08)

STOPPING PANDEMICS 53

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AZTEC

INCA

(Nov. 1803)

(Dec. 1803)

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danger in the campaign against smallpox. His contingent carried the

vaccine overland on a 2,500-mile route down the Pacific coast from

present-day Colombia to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. -5 Salvany and

his teams vaccinated more than 200,000 people in South America.

He died in Bolivia in 1810, at just 36, of an apparent heart condition. -6

The main expedition continued to the Philippines, with Balmis

branching off to China. -7 The round-the-world voyage ended in 1806

with his return to Spain. But Balmis remained devoted to the cause,

working to spread vaccination overseas until 1813.

Modern scholars sometimes characterize such medical initiatives

as opportunistic devices for advancing colonial enterprises and con-

trolling indigenous populations. But everyone at the time, from the

king’s own family on down, understood the deep terror of smallpox as

an inevitable fate. The medical staff, devoting their lives to the cause

of vaccination, surely acted out of a genuine commitment to defeating

this terrible disease.

Two empires destroyed

Unleashed in the wake of

Spanish conquistadores, small-

pox quickly killed about half

the Aztec population. The out-

break then raced south, killing

the Inca emperor and sparking

a civil war—further clearing the

way for the Spanish invaders.

Slavery and contagion

The Spanish and Portuguese ini-

tially forced indigenous Americans

to work in mines and on planta-

tions; many died from disease

and harsh labor. People from West

Africa, some carrying smallpox,

were enslaved to replace them.

The native population of

the Americas declined by an

estimated 90 percent in the

first century after Europeans

arrived. Smallpox was a

leading cause of death.

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Slave ships took

people from

West Africa,

where smallpox

was endemic.

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A killer takes root

Smallpox likely originated in

Egypt more than 3,000 years ago

and spread across Asia, Africa,

and later into western Europe.

Colonizers introduced it to the

Americas, where indigenous

people lacked immunity.

60.5 million

6 million

Estimated indigenous

population in the Americas

circa 149 2

by 1600

RILEY D. CHAMPINE, NGM STAFF;

SCOTT C. ELDER

SOURCES: CATHERINE MARK AND

JOSÉ G. RIGAU-PÉREZ,BULLETIN

OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE,

2009; FRANK FENNER AND

OTHERS,SMALLPOX AND ITS

ERADICAT ION; COLIN MCEVEDY

AND RICHARD JONES, ATLAS OF

WORLD POPULATION HISTORY

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