When Columbus arrived in the Americas the initial contact between his crew and the indigenous people was a disaster for the local population. Smallpox (see Box 1), measles and influenza had a devastating impact. Between 50 and 90% of indigenous Americans succumbed to infection owing to lack of immunity to these new diseases. Although there has been a lot of debate about this, there is also a view that this exchange may have been two way, with Columbus and his crew bringing syphilis back to Europe from the Americas.
Of the diseases spread to the indigenous American population, smallpox proved to be the most ruthless. It spread rapidly and devastated entire cities packed with people lacking immunity to this disease. Smallpox caused sufferers to break out in small blisters all over their bodies and it had a high fatality rate. Happily, due to a successful vaccination programme, it has now been eradicated worldwide.
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