Was the Huey Cocoliztli a haemorrhagic fever?

Medical History

Volumn 44, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 363-388

  Marr, John S ^a,c   Kiracofe, James B ^b  

^a NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE   (United States)

^b Inter Amer Inst Adv Studs C   (United States)

^c Plancher Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 12444283120     PISSN: 00257273     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0025727300066746     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. In 1931 Henry Rose Carter dismissed yellow fever as a cause of the 1576 epidemic, primarily due to climatologie and entomologic (Aedes mosquito) distribution. An Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Health Service at the time, Carter was a recognized expert in yellow fever. Carter thought the issue important enough to devote a chapter on the "negation of information" which suggested yellow fever as a cause of any of the post-contact Mexican outbreaks, although he noted that some of the major epidemics were due to a (non-yellow fever) haemorrhagic fever: "Neither for the period before the Conquest nor thereafter, up to and including 1576 - for which time we have very complete data - is there, in either the Nahautl records or in those of the first group of Spanish historians, an account of any sickness which can possibly be considered as yellow fever." Later, Carter cited the epidemics of 1544-45 and then, the 1576 outbreak: "It is called 'peste', 'pestilencia', 'mortalidad', 'epidemia', 'cocoliztle', and 'matlatotonqui' by them... This 'matlazahuatl' has always been surrounded with mystery, some considering it yellow fever; but more generally it was believed to have been a disease indigenous and peculiar to the Mexican highlands and to which Europeans were not subject. If there was such a disease, from time to time epidemic there, characterized by vomiting of blood and other hemorrhages, it has disappeared". Henry Rose Carter, Yellow fever: an epidemiological and historical study of its place of origin, ed. L A Carter and W H Frost, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1931, pp. 96, 106-7.
2. Charles J Nicolle, Destin des maladies infectieuses, Paris, Libraire Félix Alcan, 1933, p. 156.
3. Hans Zinsser, Rats, lice and history, Boston, Little, Brown, for Atlantic Monthly Press, 1935, new edition, 1963.
4. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
5. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
6. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
7. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
8. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
9. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
10. A number of other medical history books cite either smallpox or typhus as the cause of many, if not all, post-contact epidemics. For example: Arturo Castiglioni, A history of medicine, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947, pp. 467-8; David E Stannard, American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 81; George C Kohn (ed.), Encyclopedia of plague and pestilence, New York, Facts on File, 1995, p. 208; Jared Diamond, Guns, germs and steel, New York, W W Norton, 1997, p. 210; Sheldon Watts, Epidemics and history, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 90. Watts does not specifically discuss the 1576-80 epidemic, citing Lovell's statistics on mortality between 1518-1605. However, Lovell offered a variety of possible explanations for population decline, including smallpox, typhus, plague and measles. He favoured Zinsser's typhus theory (pp. 38-44). See George Lovell, 'Heavy shadows and black night', in The Americas before and after 1492, Current Geographical Research, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1992, 82 (3). An important book offering a comprehensive synthetic compilation and a review of scholarship with new insight and interpretation concerning the role of disease in the overall demographic catastrophe of the sixteenth century in the New World is Noble David Cook, Born to die: disease and New World conquest, 1492-1650, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Discarding the possibility of New World contagion, Cook states categorically that "The original source of the 1540s epidemic must have been Old World" (p. 104), he goes on to propose typhus. In his brief discussion of the 1576 outbreak he suggests that the identity of the sickness may be elusive because it was composed of several overlapping illnesses. But, citing a sixteenth-century source, he again points to typhus: "Mendieta identifies the sickness as typhus (tabardillo)" (p. 121). These citations re-affirm our contention that the smallpox-typhus theories have become historical orthodoxy, paradigms largely unquestioned for over fifty years.
11. Lovell, op. cit., note 4 above, pp. 426-42.
12. Charles Gibson, The Aztecs under Spanish rule, Stanford University Press, 1964, Appendix IV, Epidemics, pp. 448-51.
13. Hanns J Prem, 'Disease outbreaks in Central Mexico during the sixteenth century', in Noble D Cook, W George Lovell (eds), "The secret judgments of God": Old World disease in colonial Spanish America, Norman and London, University of Oklahoma Press, 1992, pp. 20-48.
14. Charles Gibson, Tlaxcala in the sixteenth century, Stanford University Press, 1967, pp. 138-43.
15. Prem, op. cit., note 7 above, p. 42.
16. A Rómero, 'Dos cartas ineditas del P. Bernabe Cobo', Revista histórica tomo VIII-entregas I-III. 1925, Lima, Instituto histórico del Peru, pp. 26-50.
17. Nicolle, op. cit., note 2 above; Zinsser, op. cit., note 3 above.
18. Nicolle, op. cit., note 2 above; Zinsser, op. cit., note 3 above.
19. See Willian H McNeill, Plagues and peoples, New York, Anchor Books Doubleday,1976; Erwin H Ackerknecht, History and geography of the most important diseases, New York, Hafner, 1965; Kenneth F Kiple (ed.), Plague, pox and pestilence, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1997; and Ann F Ramenofsky, Vectors of death: the archeology of European contact, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
20. See Willian H McNeill, Plagues and peoples, New York, Anchor Books Doubleday,1976; Erwin H Ackerknecht, History and geography of the most important diseases, New York, Hafner, 1965; Kenneth F Kiple (ed.), Plague, pox and pestilence, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1997; and Ann F Ramenofsky, Vectors of death: the archeology of European contact, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
21. See Willian H McNeill, Plagues and peoples, New York, Anchor Books Doubleday,1976; Erwin H Ackerknecht, History and geography of the most important diseases, New York, Hafner, 1965; Kenneth F Kiple (ed.), Plague, pox and pestilence, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1997; and Ann F Ramenofsky, Vectors of death: the archeology of European contact, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
22. See Willian H McNeill, Plagues and peoples, New York, Anchor Books Doubleday,1976; Erwin H Ackerknecht, History and geography of the most important diseases, New York, Hafner, 1965; Kenneth F Kiple (ed.), Plague, pox and pestilence, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1997; and Ann F Ramenofsky, Vectors of death: the archeology of European contact, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
23. J Villalba, Epidemiologia española; ó historia cronológica de las pestes, contagios, epidemias y epizootias que han acaecido en España desde la venida de los cartagineses, hasta el año 1801, Madrid, Mateo Repullés, 1802.
24. Zinsser, op. cit., note 3 above, p. 242.
25. Ibid., p. 264.
26. F M Bozeman, S A Masiello, M S Williams, et al., 'Epidemic typhus rickettsiae isolated from flying squirrels', Nature, 1975, 255: 545-7.
27. Zinsser, op. cit., note 3 above, p. 254.
28. Prem, op. cit., note 7 above, pp. 38-42. Earlier, on page 32 Prem cited the Codex Aubin, (also called Codice de 1576) which is a Nahuatl text illustrated with marginal images painted in colour. On page 117 of the original there is a drawing of an Indian with large drops of blood flowing from the nose. The accompanying text in Nahuatl speaks of tribute payments made on "today, Saturday the 18 of August" and adds "... and also in August the sickness continued. Blood came out of our noses. Only in our houses did the priests take our confessions and they helped us to eat. And the doctors cared for us. And when the church bells rang they did not sound for the buried, for we were abandoned in the church." See Charles E Dibble (translator), Historia de la nación mexicana: reproducción a todo color del Codice de 1576 (Codice Aubin), Madrid, Ediciones José Porrua Turanzas, 1963. (The translation is from Nahuatl into Spanish, the English passages above are our translation of Dibble's Spanish transcription.)
29. Prem, op. cit., note 7 above, pp. 38-42. Earlier, on page 32 Prem cited the Codex Aubin, (also called Codice de 1576) which is a Nahuatl text illustrated with marginal images painted in colour. On page 117 of the original there is a drawing of an Indian with large drops of blood flowing from the nose. The accompanying text in Nahuatl speaks of tribute payments made on "today, Saturday the 18 of August" and adds "... and also in August the sickness continued. Blood came out of our noses. Only in our houses did the priests take our confessions and they helped us to eat. And the doctors cared for us. And when the church bells rang they did not sound for the buried, for we were abandoned in the church." See Charles E Dibble (translator), Historia de la nación mexicana: reproducción a todo color del Codice de 1576 (Codice Aubin), Madrid, Ediciones José Porrua Turanzas, 1963. (The translation is from Nahuatl into Spanish, the English passages above are our translation of Dibble's Spanish transcription.)
30. Prem, ibid., p. 39.
31. Ibid.
32. Germán Somolinos d'Ardois, 'Hallazgo del manuscripto sobre el Cocoliztli original del Francisco Hernández', in Enrique Florescano and Elsa Malvido (eds), Ensayos sobre la historia de las epidemias en Mexico, 2 vols, Mexico, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, 1982, vol. 1, pp. 369-81 . (Originally published in Prensa Médica Mexicana, 1956, 21 (7-10): 115-23.)
33. Germán Somolinos d'Ardois, 'Hallazgo del manuscripto sobre el Cocoliztli original del Francisco Hernández', in Enrique Florescano and Elsa Malvido (eds), Ensayos sobre la historia de las epidemias en Mexico, 2 vols, Mexico, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, 1982, vol. 1, pp. 369-81 . (Originally published in Prensa Médica Mexicana, 1956, 21 (7-10): 115-23.)
34. Ibid., p. 370. For an illuminating exposition of the state of medical practice in sixteenth-century Mexico, see John Tate Lanning, Pedro de la Torre, doctor to the conquerors, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1974; pp. 6-8 describe the role of the Protomédico.
35. Ibid., p. 370. For an illuminating exposition of the state of medical practice in sixteenth-century Mexico, see John Tate Lanning, Pedro de la Torre, doctor to the conquerors, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1974; pp. 6-8 describe the role of the Protomédico.
36. Ibid., pp. 377-9.
37. Germán Somolinos d'Ardois, 'La epidemia de Cocoliztli de 1545 señalada en un códice', in Florescano and Malvido (eds), op. cit., note 21 above, pp. 233-4. (Originally published in Tribuna Médica, 1970, 15 (4): 85.)
38. Germán Somolinos d'Ardois, 'La epidemia de Cocoliztli de 1545 señalada en un códice', in Florescano and Malvido (eds), op. cit., note 21 above, pp. 233-4. (Originally published in Tribuna Médica, 1970, 15 (4): 85.)
39. The following is Somolinos d'Ardois's Spanish rendering of the original Latin text, which we translated above into English (op. cit., note 21 above, p. 375): "Las fiebres eran contagiosas, abrasadoras y continuas, mas todas pestilentes y, en gran parte letales. La lengua seca y negra. Sed intensa, orinas de color verde marino, verde (vegetal) y negro, mas de cuando en cuando pasando de la coloración verdosa a la pálida. Pulsos frecuentes y rápidos, más pequeños y débiles; de vez en cuando hasta nulos. Los ojos y todo el cuerpo, amarillos. Seguia (a lo dicho) delirio y convulsión. (Aparecian) postemas detrás de una o de ambas orejas, y tumor duro y doloroso, dolor de corazón, pecho y vientre, temblor y gran angustia y disenterias; la sangre, que salia al cortar una vena, era de color verde o muy pálido, seca y sin ninguna serosidad. A algunos gangrenas y esfacelos invadian los labios, las partes pudendas y otras regiones del cuerpo con miembros putrefactos, y les manaba sangre de los oidos; a muchos en verdad fluiales la sangre de las narices. De los que recaian casi ninguno se salvaba. Con el flujo de la sangre de las narices (si era oportunamente detenido) muchos se salvaban, los demás perecian. Los atacados de disenteria (si acontecia que acatasen la medicación) en su mayor parte ordinariamente se salvaban, ni los abcesos detrás de las orejas eran mortales, si en modo alguno retrocedisen, sino que esponáneamente, maduraran, o dada la salida con los cauterios por los agujeros, aún de los abcesos inmaduros fluyese la parte liquida de la sangre, o se eliminara el pus, tras de lo cual quedaria también eliminada la causa de la enfermedad. Además, quienes orinaban con micción abundante y pálida, partidos (en la autopsia) mostraban el hígado muy hinchado, el corazón negro, manando un liquido pálido (amarillo) y después, sangre negra, el bazo y el pulmón, negros y semi putrefactos; la atrabilis podía ser contemplada en su vasija, el vientre seco y el resto del cuerpo, por cualquiera parte que fuese cortado, palidísimo. Esta epidemia atacaba preferentemente a los jóvenes y rara vez a los viejos, quienes aún invadidos por ella, frecuentemente lograban vencerla y salvarse. Comenzó tal peste en el mes de junio de 1576 y no ha terminado en enero cuando trazamos estas líneas. De esta Nueva España invadió todas las regiones frías en un perímetro de 400 millas y trató con algún mayor miramiento (es decir atacó algo menos) las regiones más cálidas, infestando en las invadidas primeramente ora estas ora aquellas regiones ocupadas por las tribus indias, después, las habilitadas por indios y etiopes, luego las de población mixta de indios y españoles, más tarde todavía, las de etiopes y ahora, finalmente ataca las de españoles. El tiempo era seco y tranquilo, aunque turbado por sismos; el aire, impuro henchido de nubes, que, empero, no se resolvĩan en lluvias, convirtiéndose en verdadero semillero de putrefacción y corrupción." There follows more concerning how the Indians were treated and how the treatments did or did not help. The treatments were mostly based on native herbology, and the specific plants are named. The decoctions were put into the stomach with tubes, other ointments were applied to the skin. Doses and frequency are specified.
40. Nicolás León, '¿Qué era el Matlazahuatl y qué el Cocoliztli en los tempos precolombianos y en la época hispana?', in Florescano and Malvido (eds), op. cit, note 21 above, Apendice documental 2, vol. 1, p. 383.
41. Alfred W Crosby, Jr., The Columbian exchange: biological and cultural consequences of 1492, Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1973, p. 70.
42. Gibson, op. cit., note 6 above, p. 326.
43. Ibid., p. 306.
44. Charles H Calisher, T Tzaianbos, R D Lord, P H Coleman, 'Tamiami virus, a new member of the Tacaribe group', Am. J. trop. Med. Hyg., 1970, 3: 520-6.
45. W C Winn, Jr, F A Murphy, 'Tamiami virus infection in mice and cotton rats', Bull. World Health Organ., 1975, 52: 501-6.
46. Michael D Bowen, C J Peters, S T Nichol, 'The phylogeny of New World (Tacaribe complex) arenavìruses', Virology, 1996, 219 (1): 285-290.
47. Michael D Bowen, C J Peters, and S T Nichol, 'Phylogenetic analysis of the Arenaviridae: patterns of virus evolution and evidence for cospeciation between arenaviruses and their rodent hosts', Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Orlando, Academic Press, 1997, vol. 3, pp. 301-15.
48. Clarence J Peters, 'Hemorrhagic fevers: how they wax and wane', in W Michael Scheld, Donald Armstrong, James M Hughes (eds), Emerging Infections 1, Washington DC, American Society for Microbiology Press, 1998, pp. 17-25.
49. Fiona A Reid, A field guide to the mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico, New York, Oxford University Press, 1997.
50. Ibid., pp.123-8.
51. Abraham S Benenson (ed.), Control of communicable diseases manual, 16th ed., Washington, DC, American Public Health Association, 1995, pp. 22-5; Clarence J Peters, 'Infections caused by arthropod- and rodent-borne viruses', in Harrison's principles of internal medicine, 14th ed., New York, McGraw Hill, 1998, pp. 1132-45.
52. Abraham S Benenson (ed.), Control of communicable diseases manual, 16th ed., Washington, DC, American Public Health Association, 1995, pp. 22-5; Clarence J Peters, 'Infections caused by arthropod- and rodent-borne viruses', in Harrison's principles of internal medicine, 14th ed., New York, McGraw Hill, 1998, pp. 1132-45.
53. Fred Wang, 'Smallpox, vaccinia, and other poxviruses', in Harrison's Principles, op. cit., note 37 above, pp. 1095-6.
54. David Walker, D Raoult, P Bruoqui, T Marrie, 'Rickettsia, mycoplasma and chlamydia' in Harrison's principles, op. cit., note 37 above, pp. 1048-9.
55. Peters, op. cit., note 34 above, p. 17.
56. James W LeDuc, J E Childs, G E Glass, and A J Watson, 'Hantaan (Korean Hemorrhagic Fever) and related rodent zoonoses', in Stephen S Morse (ed.), Emerging viruses, New York, Oxford University Press, 1993.
57. Larry E Bockstahler, P G Carney, G Bushar, J L Sagripanti, 'Detection of Junin virus by the polymerase chain reaction', J. Virological Methods, 1992, 39 (1-2): 231-5; Michael E Lozano, P D Ghiringhelli, V Romanowski, O Grau, 'A simple nucleic acid amplification assay for the rapid detection of Junin virus in whole blood samples', Virus Research, January, 1993, 27 (1): 3753.
58. Larry E Bockstahler, P G Carney, G Bushar, J L Sagripanti, 'Detection of Junin virus by the polymerase chain reaction', J. Virological Methods, 1992, 39 (1-2): 231-5; Michael E Lozano, P D Ghiringhelli, V Romanowski, O Grau, 'A simple nucleic acid amplification assay for the rapid detection of Junin virus in whole blood samples', Virus Research, January, 1993, 27 (1): 3753.
59. Arthur C Aufderheide and Conrado Rodriguez-Martin, The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
60. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
61. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
62. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
63. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
64. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
65. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
66. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
67. Martha C Monroe, S P Morzunov, A M Johnson, M D Bowen, et al., 'Genetic diversity and distribution of Peromyscus-borne Hantaviruses in North America', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999, 5 (1): 75-86; David M Engelthaler, D G Mosley, J E Cheek, C E Levy, et al., 'Climatic and environmental patterns associated with Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Four Corners region, United States', ibid., pp. 87-94; J N Mills, T L Yates, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, and J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: rationale, potential and methods', ibid., pp. 95-101; Ken D Abbott, T G Ksiazek, J N Mills, 'Long-term Hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in Central Arizona', ibid., pp. 102-12; Amy J Kuenzi, M L Morrison, D E Swann, P C Hardy, and G T Downward, 'A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre prevalence in rodents, Southwestern Arizona', ibid., pp.113-117; Cherl A Pamenter, T L Yates, R R Parmenter, and J L Dunnum, 'Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities', ibid., pp. 118-25; Charles H Calisher, W Sweeney, J N Mills, and B J Beaty, 'Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in Western Colorado', ibid., 126-34; James N Mills, T G Ksiazek, C J Peters, J E Childs, 'Long term studies of Hantavirus reservoir populations in the Southwestern United States: a synthesis', ibid., pp. 135-42.
68. It would be presumptuous to make this statement without citing an expert source. Clarence J Peters commented on the antiquity of arenaviruses and their emerging potential to cause new disease: "Each arenavirus has a single rodent reservoir, implying a long evolutionary association with its host and suggesting a broad distribution wherever the rodent occurs ... We also do not know how many arenaviruses there may be; one could speculate that eventually we may find a virus for every sigmodontine rodent species we adequately test, with more than 300 sigmodontine species known. Of the 15 established American arenaviruses, the 4 discussed here were initially isolated from patients with severe hemorrhagic fever, but what is the pathogenic potential of the ones known from rodents?" Peters, op. cit., note 34 above, pp. 20-1.
69. Cook, op. cit., note 4 above, p. 92.