1493 Hispaniola influenza epidemic
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In 1493 the first recorded epidemic of influenza to strike the Americas occurred on the island of Hispaniola in the northern Spanish settlement of Isabela.[1][2] The virus was imported onto the Isle of Santo Domingo aboard the Cristóbal Cólon, which docked at Isabela on the 10 December 1493 with around 2000 Spanish passengers.[3]
Aftermath
Despite the general poor health of the colony, when Columbus returned in 1494 he found that the Native American populations had been affected by disease even more catastrophically than La Isabela's first settlers were. By 1506, only a third of the native population remained.[4]
References
- ^ Kipu (in Spanish). Ediciones ABYA-YALA. 1986. p. 85.
- ^ Guerra, Francisco (Autumn 1988). "The Earliest American Epidemic: The Influenza of 1493". Social Sciences History. 12 (3): 303–325. JSTOR 1171451. PMID 11618144.
- ^ Martin, Manuela (1985-09-26). "La gripe, peor que la espada". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ Hardman, Lizabeth (2011-01-18). Influenza Pandemics. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4205-0349-4.