The "Diseases That Changed American History" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Reading a bit more about the President of the United States' recent go-around with COVID-19.  One of the articles I found told of a few diseases that changed American history.  No one can predict what any infectious disease can do or cause that may happen to our country.  Same goes for any disease in any country of the world.  Will it affect the working of the government?  How about the stock market?  What about elections in the near future?  Well, COVID-19 has seemed to have effected our government, stock market as well as the electorate.  But, the arrival, consequences and departure of any life threatening disease can never be seen ahead of time and will always have an affect on any country.  It goes way back to the start of civilization.  

Armory ward during the Civil War.

As far as the United States goes, during the Civil War, America knew there would be casualties on the battlefields of the country, but what they didn't expect was that most deaths during the war were due to cholera, smallpox and other infectious diseases.  Over half of the war dead were due to disease.  Following are a few diseases that affected our country from its beginnings.  The earliest European settlers who arrived in South Carolina discovered that the marshy lowlands where they were planting their crops was infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes.  The disease proved fatal for white workers in the field.  They also discovered that recently enslaved Africans seemed to have a natural immunity to the disease because of the genetic condition known as sickle-cell anemia.  So, the slaves tended to the fields of cotton and rice instead of the Europeans.  So, why did the black population have immunity to the malaria-bearing mosquitoes?  Were they genetically hardier?  It was soon discovered that half of all Black children born into American slavery died before the age of five.  So...what is the explanation?  During the American Revolution, Americans fared far better than the Europeans who came to America to fight with us.  Seems that Americans were taller in stature while the Europeans were close to two inches shorter.  It was thought that the reason was due to most Americans residing in less populated area while the Europeans came from more dense areas of Europe.  Americans lived farther apart, with little exposure to strangers bearing illnesses as well as eating a healthier diet then their European counterparts.  But, eventually the population grew in major cities when Americans moved from the farm to the city to enrich themselves.  With the move came the risk of contracting a fatal disease.  From 1721 to 1792, Boston was hit by seven epidemics including an outbreak of yellow fever which killed 1 in 10 people.  Urban crowding began to contaminate water supplies and immigrants were constantly arriving which brought Cholera and yellow fever.  In big cities such as New York and Boston, only 16% of children reached their 60th birthday.  in the 1800s settlers in the Ohio River Valley noticed livestock developing a trembling in their legs that soon led to collapse and death.  Didn't take long for the owners to do the same with abdominal pain and vomiting.  

Tuberculosis huts at the Nordach Sanatorium in Austin Bluffs, Colorado (1906)

It was called the "Milk Sickness" and was believed to have been caused by an infectious agent.  In some pioneer settlements, over half of the people died.  Abraham Lincoln's mother died from the disease.  When animals began grazing in pastures instead of the wilderness, the disease abated.  In 1923 Dr. Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby discovered, with the help of Shawnee women, that the illness was caused by sheep and cattle eating snake root, a member of the daisy family.  This root contained tremetol, a poison so strong it can kill animals and put the poison in its meat and milk.  Another disease in America was TB, or tuberculosis.  It seemed to be connected with damp and polluted air.  Doctors told TB patients to move to higher altitudes where the air was more dry and conditions sunny.  The population of places like Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder began to grow, primarily with TB patients.  Before long they made up over a third of the state's population.  Cities grew around sanitariums which in turn drew caregivers, support staff and visitors to see the patients.  In 1916 an epidemic struck New England.  It seemed that in no time over 9,000 people contracted an unknown virus with 2,400 of then dying.  The cause...Polio!  

Iron lung machine used to treat Polio.

Polio is caused by one of four viral strains.  Most cases of Polio ran their course in a day or two without complications.  But, if the virus attacked the spine or the muscles controlling breathing, it was usually fatal.  Seems that children that grew up in crowded cities had built up an immunity to the disease, but when housing became less crowded and cleaner, there were fewer opportunities for children to build up an exposure to the disease.  For example:  Franklin D. Roosevelt had grown up in wealth and comfort, so he had no immunity when the virus hit him in 1921 at the age of 39.  Seems that today is no different than any other date in history.  The current disease that struck the President of the United States and reeked havoc throughout the United States and the world, COVID-19, doesn't care if you are rich or poor, black or white or a child or adult.  It is striking everyone who may come in contact with it.  So, the secret to defeating the virus is much the same as it has been throughout history...stay away from it, if possible.  Eventually an inoculation will be available to help eradicate the disease, but until that time, we all should be willing to practice sanitary precautions and wear a mask in public.  It's been proven to work in the past as it has been in the past several months.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.