1493 Hispaniola influenza epidemic

In 1493, the first recorded influenza epidemic to strike the Americas occurred on the island of Hispaniola in the northern Spanish settlement of Isabela.[1][2] The virus was introduced to the Isle of Santo Domingo by the Cristóbal Cólon, which docked at La Isabela on 10 December, 1493, carrying about 2,000 Spanish passengers.[3]

Aftermath

Despite the general poor health of the colony, Columbus returned in 1494 and found that the Native American population had been affected by disease even more catastrophically than Isabela's first settlers were. By 1506, only a third of the native population remained.[4]

References
  1. Kipu (in Spanish). Ediciones ABYA-YALA. 1986. p. 85.
  2. Guerra, Francisco (Autumn 1988). "The Earliest American Epidemic: The Influenza of 1493". Social Science History. 12 (3): 303–325. doi:10.1017/S0145553200018599. JSTOR 1171451. PMID 11618144.
  3. Martin, Manuela (September 26, 1985). "La gripe, peor que la espada". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. Hardman, Lizabeth (January 18, 2011). Influenza Pandemics. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4205-0349-4.
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