Native American disease and epidemics

European diseases and epidemics pervade many aspects of Native American life, both throughout history and in the present day. Diseases and epidemics can be chronicled from centuries ago when European settlers brought diseases that devastated entire tribes to the modern day when Native Americans face serious struggles with particular diseases. The current crises in diseases and epidemics are addressed by many different groups, both governmental and independent, through a multitude of programs.

The arrival of Europeans ushered in what is termed the Columbian Exchange. During this period European settlers brought many different technologies and lifestyles with them; arguably the most harmful effect of this exchange was the arrival and spread of disease.

Numerous other diseases were brought to North America, including Bubonic plague, chickenpox, cholera, the common cold, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, sexually transmitted diseases, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, and pertussis (whooping cough). Each of these brought destruction through sweeping epidemics, involving disability, illness, and extensive deaths. Native Americans, due to the lack of prior contact with Europeans, had not previously been exposed to the diseases that were prevalent on the distant continent. Therefore, they had not built up internal immunities to the diseases or formed any medicines to combat them. Europeans came into the New World bearing various diseases. Those infected with diseases either possessed them in a dormant state or were not quarantined in such a way that distanced them enough from Native Americans not to spread the diseases, allowing them to spread into epidemics.

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