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Prescott's Microbiology 8th Edition by Joanne Willey, Linda Sherwood, Christopher J. Woolverton, Lansing Prescott, John Harley, Donald Klein
Edition 8ISBN: 0077403274Prescott's Microbiology 8th Edition by Joanne Willey, Linda Sherwood, Christopher J. Woolverton, Lansing Prescott, John Harley, Donald Klein
Edition 8ISBN: 0077403274Consider the impact of microbes on the course of world history. History is full of examples of instances or circumstances under which one group of people lost a struggle against another. In fact, when examined more closely the "losers" often had the misfortune of being exposed to, more susceptible to, or unable to cope with an infectious agent. Thus weakened in physical strength or demoralized by the course of a devastating disease, they were easily overcome by human "conquerors."
a. Choose an example of a battle or other human activity such as exploration of new territory and determine the impact of microorganisms, either indigenous or transported to the region, on that activity.
b. Discuss the effect that the microbe(s) had on the outcome in your example.
c. Suggest whether the advent of antibiotics, food storage and preparation technology, or sterilization technology would have made a difference in the outcome.
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Step 1 of 3
a. Infectious disease played a huge role in the decimation of many indigenous populations in the Americas. Smallpox, typhus, influenza, and diphtheria are a few diseases that were brought over from Europe to the Americas. Smallpox played a huge role in the fall of the Aztec empire by the Spanish in the early 1500s. This enabled the Spanish to colonize the land, extract its resources, and establish trading routes.
Step 2 of 3
b. A smallpox epidemic broke out in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1520-1521. This epidemic is believed to have killed 10-50% of the population. This would decrease the number of people available to fight against the Spanish conquest. It also believed that key military leaders, including the emperor, succumbed to smallpox during this time. It is also important to note that the number only represents the fatalities. It is likely that smallpox affected a larger percentage of the population. Smallpox causes an extremely debilitating disease and is characterized by fever, fatigue, muscle pain, and rash. The most severe form is the hemorrhagic form, which causes bleeding from body orifices. With many people sick from smallpox, it is likely that there were not very many people to defend the city against Spanish attack.
Step 3 of 3
c. The reason why smallpox was so devastating to the Aztecs was because the people had no immunity to the disease. The Spanish had lived with smallpox for thousands of years and thus more likely to have caught it and have immunity to the disease. The Spanish also had the advantage of “herd immunity”. If a population contains a higher proportion of immune people, then those who are not immune are more protected against the disease. This is because it is less likely that the disease will spread through the population and less of a chance that someone will contract the disease. If the Aztecs had access to a smallpox vaccination or if they had been in contact with smallpox before, the smallpox epidemic may never have happened. There might have been more Aztecs to defend the city and it may have been more difficult for the Spanish to defeat an army that had a home-field advantage. It could be argued, however, that the Spanish were so technologically superior that they may have still defeated the Aztecs.
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