[World microbiological unification according to Woodrow Borah].
Now that developments in communication media are turning the world into a "global village" and there are risks of global epidemics due to infectious agents spread by possible terrorist attacks, this article aims to remind us of what happened in the "New World", where in the space of a few decades the indigenous civilizations disappeared. When, following the geographical discoveries of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, millions of people met European sailors, soldiers and traders, the outbreak of pathocenosis was destructive--the intensity of this effect was directly related to the degree of isolation of the indigenous populations colonised by the Europeans. The author of this article recalls the Woodrow Borah thesis. Borah, a former History Professor at Berkeley University, elaborated a theory according to which the microbiological unification of the world is the prime cause of the genocide of the indigenous population in America and Oceania. The author emphasises that the events following the discovery of the American continent are very similar to the plague epidemic which started in 1348 in Europe.
Sabbatani
Sergio
S
Unità Operativa di Malattie Infettive, Policlinico S.Orsola, Bologna, Italy.
D014943:Global Health; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008829:Microbiology / Q000266:history*