Europeans and Disease: Allies in Conquering Continents :: European Europe History

Europeans and Disease: Allies in Conquering Continents Chinese proverb claims that the rat is the most clever and strongest survivor of all animals. The rat proved itself in the beginning of time when god held a race for all of his animals; the rat was clever enough to hide in the ear of a large beast, and at the last second he leapt out of the beast's ear and crossed the finish line before the beast. Disease tells a similar history, in which it has been able to spread itself through out the entire world, through the naà ¯ve and unknowing help of humans and animals. Earlier in history, Europe seemed to be an epicenter for disease. This was rooted in the fact that the Europeans, more so than any other population, lived intimately with their livestock. Farmers and the surrounding aggregate nations survived harsh winters and hot summers where it was necessary to share indoor space with animals. Additionally, they had excessive contact with them and little understanding of what hubs of nastiness their fury friends were or what control centers for disease they themselves would become. Humans have historically shown a deep affinity for livestock and continue to do so, currently, in New Zealand there are more sheep kept than there are people on the island. In fact, in some cases, people seemed to have developed such a tenderness for their animals that they resort to practicing bestiality. Several common human diseases are closely related to animal diseases. Smallpox developed from cowpox and measles is closely related to rinderpest (another bovine dise ase). But whether it is through cuddling, milking or whipping our animals, we have managed to remain intimately involved over the centuries; and disease has lovingly appreciated it by spreading itself far and wide. The populations of the American continents however, did not experience the same spread of disease that the Europeans did. They kept almost no domestic animals. Consequently, their immune systems had few antibodies developed to combat even the weakest strings of disease. Also, they did not live in crowds the way that Europeans did. Early in the middle ages the Europeans had not only settled and become dependent on their agriculture and livestock, but they had developed large cities like London where thousands of people lived in close quarters, and had given little thought to the disposal of waste. Native Americans did live in tribes but did not have permanent living quarters that compared to the size of some of the European cities.