Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today
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neomycin, resistance to, 247
Nergal, 169
nervous system, prion disease, 98-99
New World. See indigenous Americans
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 255
Nightingale, Florence, 125, 168
1918 flu epidemic. See Spanish flu of 1918
Nixon, Richard, 135
noninfectious disease, infectious disease versus, 34-36
Norovirus, 94
novel diseases. See emerging diseases
nuts, contamination of, 94-95
O
O’Daniel, W., 142
O’nyong Nyong, 238
Odyssey (Homer), 177
old age, 35
Old World. See Europeans
onions, 178-179
opportunistic diseases, 60, 112, 251-252
origin of
biological warfare, 130
cholera, 71-72
diarrheal diseases, 70-71
disease, 205
Africa, 13-17
animals, 17-24
HIV/AIDS, 150-151
indigenous Americans, 193, 203
influenza, 243
Islamic Empire, 91
leprosy, 30-31
mad cow disease, 99-101
malaria, 84
measles, 25-28
scapegoats, 175-177
syphilis, 145-147
typhus, 209-211
The Origin of Species (Darwin), 8, 196
Orosius, plague of, 87
Oroya fever, 196
oscillation of disease virulence, 42-44
overpopulation
future predictions, 253
opportunistic diseases and, 251-252
overprescription of antibiotics, 249
P
pandemics. See epidemics
parainfluenza, 28
parasitic worms, 153, 168
Pasteur, Louis, 137
penicillin, 113
Penicillium, 250
Penicillium notatum, 113
Persian invasion of Greece, 123
person-to-person contact, as transmission method, 38
pestilence. See disease
physical benefits of religion, 164
Phytophthora infestans, 109
Picardy sweats, 50
pigs, diseases from, 21
Pilgrim’s Pride, 94
pinta, 148
Pizarro, Francisco, 200
plague. See bubonic plague
plague of Cyprian, 88
plague of Justinian, 86, 90-91, 231
plague of Orosius, 87
Plagues, Priests and Demons (Reff), 182
plagues. See disease
plasmids
disease virulence and, 63-65
transmissible antibiotic resistance, 248
Plasmodium, 13
Plasmodium falciparum, 15, 45
pneumonic plague, mortality rate, 187
poisoning. See also food poisoning
accidental versus intentional, 34
ergot poisoning, 106-109
poliomyelitis, 225-226
resistance to, 225
transmission method, 39
political response to mad cow disease, 101-102
polytheism
in Middle Ages, 188
monotheism versus, 179-181
Pommery, Madame, 137
population collapse, periods of, 231-232
population density. See also ancient civilizations; cities
accuracy of estimates, 220
after bubonic plague, 218-219
of ancient Athens, 28
during Middle Ages, 217-218
effects of
on disease transmission, 56-59
on disease virulence, 41-44
efficiency of transmission methods and, 242
European empires versus Third World nations, 226
future predictions, 253
in imperial expansion, 120-122
indigenous Americans, 197
opportunistic diseases and, 251-252
replenishing in cities, 213-214
required for measles, 25
in Roman Empire, 82
susceptibility to disease and, 8
population statistics, 231
positive aspects of epidemics, 6-8, 53, 56
potato blight, 109-110
pre-Columbian Americans. See indigenous Americans
predicting the future, 252-256
prion disease, 98-99
mad cow disease
in humans, 102-103
origin of, 99-101
political response to, 101-102
scrapie, 99
prion protein, resistance to mad cow disease, 55
Procopius, 89, 91
promiscuity
puritanism versus, 141-143
rates of, propaganda versus, 144-145
propaganda, actual promiscuity rates versus, 144-145
prostitution
sacred prostituion, 160-161
tolerance for, 154
in Victorian-era England, 142
protection from evil spirits, 178-179
protozoa, mutation rate, 61
protozoan diseases, rate of evolution, 24
Prusiner, Stanley, 98
psychological effects of biological warfare, 131
public health
AIDS and, 156, 158
breakdowns in, 236
Puccinia graminis, 251
punishment, disease as, 179-181
puritanism, promiscuity versus, 141-143
Puritans, 202-203
Q–R
quarantine
in ancient religious beliefs, 171
during bubonic plague, 40
rabbits
biological warfare against, 137-138
population of Australia, 53
rabies, 23, 40
radiation, sterilizing meat with, 94
rats. See rodents
Re (Egyptian sun god), 170
recalls of contaminated meat, 94
recent diseases from animals, 19-21
Reff, Daniel, 182
Reformation, 222
regulations, food safety, 95
religion. See also ancient religious beliefs
Buddhism in Japan, 186-187
Coptic Christianity, 184-185
decline in industrial Europe, 190-191
effect of bubonic plague on, 187-189, 221-223
effect of epidemics on, 165-166
expectations and, 165-166
health benefits of, 163-164
hygiene and, 171-173
implications of indigenous Americans’ mortality rate, 202-203
messianic Taoism, 185-186
reaction
to AIDS, 155-156
to Great Plague of 1665, 189-190
to venereal disease (VD), 154-155
rise of Christianity, 181-184
science versus, 191-192
views
on homosexuality, 157-158
of sexual morality, history of, 159-162
religious mania, fungal diseases and, 106-109
rendering process, effect on mad cow disease, 100-101
Republic of Texas separatists, 133
reservoirs of disease, effect on disease virulence, 46-47
resistance to disease. See also susceptibility
antibiotic resistance, 247-250
cystic fibrosis, cholera resistance and, 78-81
explained, 48-49
extinction of disease and, 49, 51
genetic sources of, 4, 6, 9, 53, 56, 227-228
group survival and, 52-53
HIV/AIDS resistance, 158-159
immune system aggressiveness, 228-229
lowered resistance to tuberculosis, 223
milder disease versus, 51-52
poliomyelitis immunity, 225
tropical diseases, 122-123
tuberculosis resistance, 224
Richard the Lionheart (king of Engla
nd), 124
rickets, 208
Rickettsias, 127, 208
rinderpest, 27
RNA mutation rate, 62
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, 195, 208
rodents
diseases from, 21, 29-30
effect of climate change on spread of disease, 245
as Lassa fever carriers, 239
leprosy in, 31
as transmission method, 39, 216-217
Roman Empire
bubonic plague in, 90-92
effect of disease on, 1-4, 81-86
fall of, 83-86, 182
history of epidemics in, 86-90
malaria in, 83, 85-86
population collapse in, 231
religious beliefs, effect of epidemics on, 166
rise of, 81-83, 121
rotavirus, 71
RU486 pills (“abortion pills”), effect on sexual morality, 143
rubella, 214
Rudolf II (Habsberg emperor), 173
rural areas
population replenishment in, 213-214
disease in, 103-104
Russia
biological warfare program, 135
diphtheria in, 236
Napoleon’s defeat in, 128
typhus in World War I, 128
Russo-Japanese War, 115, 125
rye, ergot poisoning from, 106-109
S
sacred prostitution, 160-161
Salmonella, 64, 246
contamination sources, 94, 96
infection rate, 95
transmission method, 215
typhoid fever from, 127
Salmonella typhi, 47, 64
San of the Kalahari Desert, 166
sand-lice disease, 210
sandflies, 196
scapegoats, origin of, 175-177
scarlet fever, transmission method, 215
schistosome worms, resistance to, 51
schistosomiasis, virulence of, 45
science, religion versus, 191-192
scrapie, 99
scrub typhus, 210
Sekhmet, 169-170
The Selfish Gene (Dawkins), 59
Semitic cultures, religious beliefs of, 172
Sennacharib the Assyrian, 203
Serbians, typhus in World War I, 128
serpents, in ancient religious beliefs, 168
sexual morality. See also promiscuity
effect of economy on, 143
effect of technological advances on, 143
religious views on, 154-155, 159-162
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). See venereal disease (VD)
The Shape of Things to Come (Wells), 252
sharing needles, role in AIDS transmission, 153
sheep
diseases from, 21
scrapie in, 99
shigatoxin, 64
Shigella, 64
shingles, 47
Shomu (emperor of Japan), 187
Shotoku (empress of Japan), 187
sick, caring for, 167, 181-184
sickle cell anemia, 5, 15, 54
sickness. See disease
SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus), 22, 150
skin infections, relationship with venereal disease (VD), 148-149
Skrælings, 211-212
skull, cutting hole in, 178
slavery, African diseases and, 204
sleeping sickness
cause of, 13
role in warfare, 122-123
virulence of, 45
smallpox, 10, 15, 54, 214
as biological warfare, 135, 203-204
Catholic Church view on vaccination, 172
effect on indigenous Americans, 130, 200
eradication of, 22, 215
Islamic expansion and, 119
in Japan, 186-187
Japanese remedies for, 178
mortality rates, 53
origin and spread of, 20-21
resistance to, 49, 52
in Roman Empire, 88
transmission method, 38, 204
variants of, 214
Snow, John, 72-73
societal factors
in infectious disease transmission, 69-70
in susceptibility to disease, 10-11
societal impact on disease transmission, 56-59
soil erosion, 85
soldiers. See military
Soviet Union. See Russia
Spanish flu of 1918, 125
mortality rate, 242-243
virulence of, 243-244
spirits, as cause of disease, 167
spiritual benefits of religion, 163
spirochetes, 148, 234
sponges, sterilization process, 96
spongiform encephalopathy, 98
spotted fevers in indigenous Americans, 208-209
spread of disease. See transmission methods; virulence of disease
St. Anthony’s fire, 107
STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). See venereal disease (VD)
Stefani, Marchione di Coppo, 220
sterilization process
for meat, 94
for sponges/dishrags, 96
strength of disease. See virulence of disease
Streptomyces, 250
streptomycin, resistance to, 247
stroke, 35
Sumerians, religious beliefs of, 169-172
survival rate, factors in, 183
susceptibility to disease, 50. See also resistance to disease
American Indians, 17-18, 54
factors in, 8-11
to HIV/AIDS, 159
to tuberculosis, 236
sweating sickness, extinction of, 50-51
swine flu, 199, 244
syphilis, 143, 234
cause of, 148
in indigenous Americans, 195
milder version of, 41, 51
military casualties from, 126
origin of, 145-147
rates of, 144
religious views on, 154
transmission method, 38
in World War I, 125
T
Takman, 176-177
Taoism, 185-186
TB. See tuberculosis
technological advances, effect on sexual morality, 143
technology, spread of, 255
technology-borne diseases, 246-247
tekomenos, 177
Third World nations, population density, 226
Thomas á Becket (saint), 127
Thucydides, 50
ticks. See insects
tissues, as disease carriers, 46
towns. See cities
trachoma, 145, 148
trading, spread of disease via, 206
transmissible antibiotic resistance, 248
transmission methods. See also virulence of disease
bacterial diseases, 215
bubonic plague, 216-217
changing, 233-234
Ebolavirus, 240
efficiency of, 242
emerging diseases, 241
HIV/AIDS, 151-153
infectious disease, 37-40
Lassa fever, 239
measles, 204
by military, 116-118
origin of disease and, 16-17
rodents/insects, 29-30
smallpox, 204
spotted fevers, 208
technology-borne diseases, 246-247
typhoid fever, 127
typhus, 127, 211
trench fever, 197
trepanation, 178
Treponema pallidum, 148
tropical diseases
role in warfare, 122-123
slavery and, 204
tropical regions, disease in, 14
Trypanosoma cruzi, 196
Trypanosoma evansi, 150
trypanosome disease of horses, 150
trypanosomes, 13
tsutsumagoshi fever, 210
tuberculosis
decline in, 233
future predict
ions, 253
HIV/AIDS and, 156
in indigenous Americans, 195, 207-208
lowered resistance to, 223
mortality rate, 14, 224, 238
origin of, 17
re-emergence of, 236-237
resistance to, 51, 224
susceptibility to, 236
symptoms of, 223