Smallpox is a virus which is extremely contagious and has proved to be devastating to mankind.
In the early 1500s, a deadly new malady reared its head on the European continent: smallpox. The disease, which tricks the immune system into attacking the body’s own organs, ravaged the nations of Europe. But it also played a major role in world history.
A Virus Mightier Than The Sword
When the Europeans began traversing the globe in the sixteenth century, they took the smallpox virus with them.
Historians believe that just one smallpox-infected Spaniard spread the disease to the Inca people, in 1525. As smallpox had already been around in Europe for many years, most of the Spaniards now arriving in the “New World” had already developed some immunity to it. The Incas, however, had no defense.
As a result, the disease spread and killed the indigenous people so quickly that by the time the conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived, seven years later, he was able to conquer the entire Incan Empire, which covered an area as big as Italy and Spain combined, with a mere 168 men.
When someone is infected by small pox, there is no sign for 7 to 17 days. This is the incubation period of the virus after which the infected person begins to get symptoms like high fever, chills, headache, severe back pain, abdominal pain and vomiting.
There is no cure for the small pox virus. Vaccination within the first two to three days is adviced in addition a dose of antibiotics to reduce the spread of the virus.
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