St. Louis encephalitis, 22, 414–16
St. Peter’s Basilica, 109–10
Stamp Act, 257
Stanhope, Philip, 237
“The Star-Spangled Banner,” 294
Starving Time, 188, 202–4, 324
Stepan, Nancy Leys, 400–401, 422
Stephen, Saint, 115
sugar, 160, 178, 179, 205, 212, 286, 347
Sugar Act, 252
Sun Tzu, 19
Sushruta, 54, 56, 74
Sutter, Paul, 363–64
Swan, Edward, 337–38
swine flu, 412
syphilis, 156n, 164, 372
Syracuse, 69–70, 83
Tacitus, 94
Taft, William, 357
Taino people, 142, 146–47, 153, 166–67
Taoism, 39
Target Malaria, 430
Taylor, Zachary, 299, 301n
Tea Act, 257
Teach, Edward (Blackbeard), 184
Tecumseh, 291, 293
The Tempest (Shakespeare), 204
Ten Years’ War, 340
terrorism, 416–17
thalassemia, 35–36, 129, 168, 179
Thebes, 71, 72
Theiler, Max, 360
Themistocles, 64
Theodosius, 96–97, 108
Thirteen Colonies, 185, 228
This is Ann: She’s Dying to Meet You (Geisel), 381, 381–82
Thucydides, 57, 65, 68–69
Tigertt, W. D., 18
Timucua people, 194
Tobacco Brides, 208
Tobacco Coast, 207
tobacco cultivation: and African slavery, 179–80; and American Civil War, 326, 330; and American Manifest Destiny, 295; and Columbian Exchange, 152, 157–59; and European colonization of Americas, 188–89, 192, 203, 205, 225–26, 229–31, 234; and Haitian Revolution, 347; and shift to cotton economy, 298; and Spanish imperialism, 166; and wars of colonial expansion, 238, 240, 249; and wars of liberation in the Americas, 275
Toussaint Louverture, 192, 233, 235, 271–72, 274, 281–84, 287, 346
Townshend Acts, 257
Trail of Tears, 297
The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo), 140
Treaty of 1818, 294
Treaty of Ghent, 294
Treaty of London, 199
Treaty of Middle Plantation, 210
Treaty of Paris, 270, 281n, 291
Trebia, 84–85, 86
Trent, William, 237
trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness), 13
Tu Youyou, 405–8
tuberculosis, 44, 147, 166, 196, 209, 289
Tubman, Harriet, 302
Tutankhamen, 51–52, 51n
Twain, Mark, 18, 276, 337
typhoid, 62, 69, 75, 76, 77
typhus, 13, 69, 384
Ukers, William, 160
Ukraine, 133, 134
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 302, 309, 397
Union Army, 314, 331–32
Unit 731, 391–92
Upper Canada, 233, 233n
Urban III, Pope, 118
US Army Medical Corps, 358
US Army Yellow Fever Commission, 341–42, 358
US Biological Weapons Program, 391
US Colored Troops, 320, 332–34
US Congress, 258, 280, 343, 354, 365
US Division of Tropical Medicine, 375, 390, 390n
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 408
US Public Health Service, 393
USS Maine, 349
Utopia (More), 155, 196
vaccines, 268–69, 360, 424–25, 438. See also immune system and immunizations
Valley of the Kings, 50, 51
Vandals, 98–101, 103, 116–17
Varro, 89
Veracruz, Mexico, 299–300
Vernon, Edward “Old Grog,” 238–39, 238n
Vicksburg, 311, 315–17, 320–21, 323–26, 332–33, 341
Vietnam War, 403–5, 404
Virginia Company, 205, 207–8, 226
Visigoths, 97, 99, 103, 116–17
vivax malaria: and American Revolution, 266; and author’s background, 441; and Bolshevik Revolution, 370; and Crusades, 124; disease symptoms, 48; drug treatments for, 425; and European colonization of Americas, 225, 229–32; and hereditary defenses to mosquito-borne disease, 35, 179; and HIV/AIDS, 421; range of, 26–27, 112; and rise of agriculture, 45
Wagner-Jauregg, Julius, 372
Walcheren Fever, 287, 417
Walla, Thomas, 432
Wallace, William, 223–24
Walpole, Horace, 111
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 18, 406
War of 1812, 293, 306, 312, 345
Washington, George: and American Revolution, 255, 261, 263–64, 268, 271–72; military rank of, 325–26; and wars of colonial expansion, 239, 241–42, 253–54; and wars of liberation in the Americas, 235, 280–81
Washington, Lawrence, 239
The Wealth of Nations (Smith), 167–68
Webb, James, 18, 45, 113, 226, 352, 370, 406
Weill, Sandy, 422
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 286
West Africa, 35, 42, 173, 181–82
West Central Africa, 179, 225
West Indies, 178, 244, 263, 277–78
West Nile virus, 17, 20, 22, 77, 280, 410, 413, 415–20, 426–27, 431–32, 438–40
Western Roman Empire, 101, 115
Weyler, Valeriano “the Butcher,” 348, 349
What Bugged the Dinosaurs? (Poinar and Poinar), 13
Wheeler, Charles, 384
White, John, 197
Wilhelm II, 441
William III, 222
Williams, Thomas, 317
Winegard, William, 368, 440–42, 441
Winther, Paul, 158–59
Wolfe, James, 235, 243
Wood, Leonard, 359
World Health Assembly, 399
World Health Organization (WHO), 138, 393, 400, 408, 409–10
wormwood, 39, 403, 406. See also artemisinin
Worsham, W. J., 324
Xerxes, 61, 63, 64
Xhosa people, 55–56
yam farmers, 42–43, 54, 426
Yeardley, George, 226
yellow fever: and African slavery, 168–71, 177–80; and American Civil War, 307, 309–10, 316, 321; and American cotton plantations, 298, 301; and American imperialism, 341–43, 345–50, 354, 356, 356, 358–62, 364; and American Manifest Destiny, 302–3; and American Revolution, 254, 256, 265–66, 270–71; as biological weapon candidate, 337–38, 391–92; and Columbian Exchange, 141, 148, 151, 155, 162; disease symptoms, 48; and early Chinese history, 53; and English Civil War, 218; eradicated in Cuba, 358–60; and European colonialism, 173–74, 182–85, 189, 191, 205, 225, 228–34; and fossilized mosquitoes, 15; and Greek culture, 69; historical impact of, 21–23; and interwar period, 369; malaria compared to, 26; and Mexican-American War, 300–301; and naturopathic remedies, 38; and Nelson’s Nicaragua fiasco, 262–63; and Reconstruction-era South, 337–41, 343–44; and Roman Empire, 96; scientific advances for combating, 396; and Scotland’s Darien scheme, 221–23; and Second World War, 367, 373, 375–76; and Seminole Wars, 297; and Spanish imperialism, 166; vectors of, 20, 337–51, 354, 358, 431; and War of 1812, 293; and wars of colonial expansion, 238, 240, 242, 244–46, 250; and wars of liberation in the Americas, 274–75, 277–84, 289–90; and West Nile virus outbreak, 416–17; and westward expansion in the US, 344–45; and zoonosis, 17
Yucatan Peninsula, 143–44, 170
Zhou Enlai, 405
Zhou Yiqing, 403–4
Zika virus: Aedes mosquito as vector, 20, 431–32; and air tra
vel, 426–27; and CRISPR technology, 429; current extent of, 439; and evolution of mosquitoes, 438; and fetal development, 9; in Haiti, 285; and resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases, 413; and scope of mosquito-borne disease, 22; transmission between humans, 419–20; and zoonosis of diseases, 17, 410
Zinsser, Hans, 69
zoonosis and zoonotic diseases, 17, 25, 44, 96, 147, 149–50, 157, 410, 431
Zosimus, 97
Zulu people, 55
Zyklon B, 370–71, 371n
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About the Author
Timothy C. Winegard holds a PhD in history from the University of Oxford. He is a professor of history and political science and head coach of the hockey team at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. Dr. Winegard served as an officer with the Canadian and British armed forces, and is internationally published, including his four previous books, in the fields of both military history and indigenous studies.
* For this time period, annual death statistics for mosquito-borne diseases vary between 1 and 3 million. The consensus usually straddles an average of 2 million.
* These are estimates and extrapolations based on the following factors and scientific models: the origin and longevity of both Homo sapiens and mosquito-borne diseases in Africa; the time frame and patterns of the migrations of humans, mosquitoes, and mosquito-borne diseases out of Africa; the first appearance and evolution of numerous genetic hereditary defenses to distinct strains of malaria; historical death rates from mosquito-borne disease; human population growth and demography; historic periods of natural climate change and global temperature fluctuations, among other contributing considerations and components.
* For this reason, mosquitoes cannot transmit HIV or any other blood-borne virus. The mosquito injects only saliva, which does not and cannot contain HIV, through a specific tube separate from the tube used to take in blood. No blood is transmitted during her bite.
* This amazing three-minute video from PBS Deep Look provides an actual up-close view and explanation of a mosquito feeding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD8SmacBUcU. It is well worth the watch.
* Recent studies suggest that, as a survival mechanism, Aedes mosquitoes can be trained to avoid unpleasant interactions such as swatting for up to twenty-four hours, making a repeat strike less likely.
* It is estimated that there are about one trillion species of microbes on our planet, meaning 99.999% have yet to be unearthed.
* Unlike bacteria, viruses are not cells—they are a collection of molecules and genetic hardwiring. Viruses are not considered “alive” because they lack three fundamental properties associated with living organisms. Viruses lack the ability to reproduce without the aid of a host cell. They hijack the reproductive equipment of a host cell, redirecting it to “photocopy” its own viral genetic code. Viruses also cannot multiply through cell division. Finally, they do not have a metabolism of any kind, meaning that they do not need or consume energy to survive. Given the absolute necessity to have a host in order to reproduce, viruses affect nearly every life-form on earth.
* It is scientific speculation as to whether they were equipped with retractable, folding skin on their backs like our wrinkled modern-day elephants. When a swarm of mosquitoes settles on the smooth skin of an elephant, it suddenly contracts its skin into a series of accordion-like waves, crushing the unsuspecting mosquitoes. Since elephants cannot reach their backs with their tail or trunk, this ingenious evolutionary adaptation solves the problem.
* Currently humans and chimps share 99.4% of critical nonsynonymous or “functionally important” DNA and are ten times more closely related than are mice and rats. Given this close genetic relationship, some scientists have argued that the two living species of chimpanzees (the bonobo and the common chimpanzee) belong in the genus Homo currently occupied only by modern humans.
* Adhering to acclaimed historian Alfred W. Crosby’s paradigm, these dates and others cited are subject to discrepancy and controversy. For our purposes, we will focus on chronology and relative time frames, not absolute dates.
* This often-referenced quotation does not appear in any of Darwin’s published writings, journals, or letters.
* The British fighter-bomber aircraft Mosquito entered service in late 1941 shortly after the Battle of Britain.
* Academics still debate the first appearance of yellow fever in the Americas, with some suggesting outbreaks as early as 1616.
* The famous hominin skeleton Lucy, dating from 3.2 million years ago, acquired her household name from the 1967 song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles, which played loudly on repeat the day she was discovered in the Ethiopian Awash Valley in 1974 by Donald Johanson.
* The term “survival of the fittest” is commonly, and mistakenly, attributed to Darwin. English biologist and anthropologist Herbert Spencer first used and coined the catchphrase in his 1864 book Principles of Biology after reading Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, first published in 1859. Darwin then used/borrowed the term from Spencer for the 5th edition of his book, released in 1869.
* The fever names adhere to the Roman practice of starting with day one, not zero. For example, tertian is two days, even though it represents the number three, if we start counting at one, and quartan, meaning four, is for us three.
* Byron’s famous rhythmic poem, “The Destruction of Sennacherib,” is based on the biblical account of the battle.
* It has been suggested that King Tut was born of an incestuous brother-sister relationship causing numerous congenital deformities, including a club foot. It was common for Egyptian nobility to marry siblings and even their children. For example, Cleopatra was the wife, sister, and co-ruler to both her adolescent brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. Of the fifteen marriages of Ptolemaic Egyptian rule, ten were between brother and sister and two were with a niece or a cousin.
* Socrates, and his persistent questioning, was such an annoyance to the Athenian aristocracy and elite that they nicknamed him the Athenian gadfly. Gadfly is a generic term for a buzzing, bloodsucking insect.
* Written on the Cyrus Cylinder is his declaration of the restoration of temples and cultural edifices, and the repatriation of exiled peoples to their homelands, including the Jews, whom he freed from Babylonian bondage as outlined in the Book of Ezra. He is mentioned twenty-three times in the Bible and is the only non-Jewish figure referred to as messiah. Adding to his legend and impressive résumé, Cyrus died in battle on the steppes of Kazakhstan in 530 BCE. His body was returned to his beloved capital and buried in a modest limestone tomb, duly preserved and aptly recognized as a United Nations World Heritage site. Cyrus is regarded as one of the most important and illustrious leaders in recorded history and is truly deserving of his “Great” suffix.
* Given Alexander’s erratic behavior toward the end of his life, it has been proposed, although can never be definitively substantiated, that he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) due to the recurrent head traumas he sustained in battle. With the intense scrutiny currently surrounding concussions and professional sports, specifically the National Football League and the National Hockey League, Alexander’s demeanor seems to mirror that of former players suffering from CTE.
* The suicides of Mark Antony and Cleopatra were immortalized by William Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra. In August 30 BCE, believing that his lover Cleopatra had already committed suicide, Mark Antony stabbed himself with a sword. When he found out that she was still alive, he was quickly brought to Cleopatra and died in her arms. A grieving Cleopatra then committed suicide by inducing an Egyptian cobra to bite her repeatedly.
* There is debate over how many, if any, elephants survived the mountainous crossing of the Alps.
* Roman casualties at Cannae are hotly debated among historians. From the 86,000 total Roman soldiers, estimates for those killed in battl
e range from 18,000 to 75,000. Most estimates and the relative consensus straddle 45,000 to 55,000 killed.
* During the Great Plague of London in 1665–1666, an outbreak of bubonic plague killing 25% of the city in just eighteen months, residents still believed in the magic word, posting it above their doorways to ward off sickness.
* A fourth-century inventory of the city of Rome listed by Kyle Harper included: 28 libraries, 19 aqueducts, 423 neighborhoods, 46,602 apartment complexes, 1,790 mansions, 290 granaries, 254 bakeries, 856 public baths, 1,352 cisterns and fountains, and 46 brothels. The 144 public latrine facilities produced 100,000 pounds of human excrement per day!
* During the planning stages for the invasion, the original code name was Otto, after Otto I. It was renamed Barbarossa in December 1940.
* The population of Jerusalem even in 1865, for example, was roughly 16,500, composed of 7,200 Jews, 5,800 Muslims, 3,400 Christians, and 100 “others.”
* Mongol warriors had a continuous supply of fresh horses, as each soldier usually possessed three to four of his own animals.
* The personal traveling brothel of Genghis Khan numbered in the thousands. He would discard and add women as he conquered new territories, circulating his DNA over a wide swath of the world.
* I do not include the total body count of roughly 52 billion from mosquito-borne diseases across time, nor the 95 million indigenous peoples of the Americas who perished from European disease in the centuries after Columbus. These were not one-shot deals or true epidemics but rather long-term endemic infections featuring sporadic epidemics.
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