[숨어있는 세계사] Traces of smallpox have been found in the 3,000-year-old mummy of Ramses V

[숨어있는 세계사] Traces of smallpox have been found in the 3,000-year-old mummy of Ramses V

Input: 2022.07.06 03:30

smallpox and infectious diseases
In the 16th century, Spain and Portugal conquered South America and spread.
Vaccinia was developed by Edward Jenner.

▲ It is unclear when smallpox first occurred. However, as boils, symptoms of smallpox, were found on the face and body of the mummy of Ramses V, who ruled Egypt in the 12th century BC, it is believed to have existed about 3,000 years ago. The picture is an oil painting ‘The Plague of the Ancient City’ by Belgian painter Michelle Sweets. It expressed the outbreak of an epidemic. /Wikipedia

Anxiety is growing as ‘monkey pox’, an endemic disease prevalent mainly in West Africa, has recently spread around the world. Monkey pox was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958. It was given this name because symptoms similar to smallpox (smallpox) appeared. In 1970, the first case of human infection was confirmed in Congo, Africa, and since then, cases of infection have been continuously reported mainly in Central and West Africa. Then, from last May, it began to spread mainly in Europe, and it is said that this is the first time that monkeypox patients have been reported in more than 50 countries in such a short period of time. The virus that causes monkeypox belongs to the same family as the variola virus, which causes smallpox. So, smallpox vaccine is known to be 85% effective against monkeypox.

Smallpox is a disease that has plagued mankind for centuries. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in 1980 that smallpox was completely eliminated from the world. Smallpox was the first infectious disease to be eradicated by mankind. However, many people died from smallpox, including Emperor Marcus Aurelius of Rome, King Louis XV of France, Emperor Peter II of Russia, and Emperor Shunzie of the Qing Dynasty. Let’s take a look at some of the infectious diseases in history, such as smallpox and measles, that have terrified the world.

Smallpox in ancient history

It is not known exactly when smallpox first occurred. However, it is believed to have existed about 3,000 years ago, as boils, symptoms of smallpox, were found on the face and body of the mummified Ramses V, who ruled Egypt in the 12th century BC. Smallpox spread to Asia and Europe along trade routes over a long period of time. 30% of those infected with the virus will die. Even if they survived, there were aftereffects such as blindness and deep scars.

In some cases, civilizations were destroyed by the spread of smallpox. When Spain and Portugal conquered South America in the 16th century, Native Americans who had no immunity to smallpox were exposed to the smallpox virus. The incubation period was more than ten days, and when a disease spreads in one village, the natives fled to the neighboring villages and spread the germs there. As a result, the indigenous population declined rapidly. The Aztec Empire, which had been strong in what is now Mexico’s Central Highlands, collapsed two years after the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived here. The transmission of smallpox was a decisive factor. King Kutlauak of the Aztec Empire also died of smallpox within a few months of his accession.

According to a study, about 90% of the deaths of indigenous peoples during the period when South America was a European colony died from various infectious diseases from other continents, such as smallpox and measles. Emperor Huanacapak of the Inca Empire also died from smallpox spread over land, hastening the collapse of the Inca Empire.

There have also been instances of attempts to use the smallpox virus as a weapon. The War of Pontiac broke out in 1763 when Native Americans resisted British rule over the Great Lakes region between the United States and Canada. British officers deliberately distributed blankets and handkerchiefs from smallpox treatment hospitals to Aboriginal representatives to subdue them. It’s unclear how much of an impact this practice actually had on the spread of smallpox, but Europeans at the time knew that Native Americans were less immune to smallpox. It is estimated that smallpox killed more than 20 million Americans and 100 million people worldwide during the century of the 1500s.

development of vasculitis

Edward Jenner (1749-1823), an English physician, devised the first vaccine after hearing that “people in the dairy industry get vaccinia (bovine smallpox) while milking cows, and then they don’t get smallpox.” In 1796, he inserted vaccinia pus into the arm of a healthy 8-year-old boy, and inoculated him with smallpox pus six weeks later. The boy then had only mild symptoms and did not contract smallpox. Jenner figured out how to use viruses to boost immunity.

This is the vaccinia (vaccinia) method, which prevents disease by injecting the virus into the human body. Jenner called this smallpox prevention method ‘Vaccination’, derived from the Latin word ‘Vacca’, meaning cow. However, at the time, there were many people who were against this method of injecting the virus directly into the human body.

Jenner conducted several experiments and reported the results to the Royal Society of England. Since then, it has been widely adopted around the world, with France adopting it. The Royal Society of the United States, Sweden, Germany, etc., highly regarded this achievement and treated him as an honorary member.

In 1967, a global vaccination campaign was launched with the goal of eradicating smallpox completely. The World Health Organization estimated that there were 10 to 15 million smallpox cases and 2 million deaths that year. Since then, 10 years later, in 1977, when an employee of a Somalia hospital was infected, no one is known to have contracted smallpox naturally. There were 0 infected people.

Measles in children

Measles was also a highly contagious contagious disease. It starts with cold-like symptoms and causes a red rash on the body, mainly in children. The 10th century Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakhariya Alazie published a book entitled ‘A Study on Smallpox and Measles’. He described measles as “a disease more terrifying than smallpox.” Like smallpox, measles was a disease that had never been exposed on the American continent, and it had a major impact on the population change in America in the 16th century. When a measles epidemic broke out in Cuba in 1529, it is said that two-thirds of the indigenous people who survived the smallpox outbreak died.

Before the development of a measles vaccine, measles epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years, resulting in an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year. Then, in 1963, a measles vaccine was developed in the United States, and as the vaccine was distributed, the incidence rate decreased sharply. Measles is said to be more than 97% effective when vaccinated.

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Queen Elizabeth I, who led Britain’s heyday, died of smallpox in 1562 at the age of 29. Fortunately, she got out of her illness, but her face was left with a blistering scar. She put white makeup on her face to hide her scars. It is said that there was lead in her cosmetics, and in her later years lead poisoning caused her hair and teeth to fall out, which was very painful. She eventually said she refused to even put her mirror in her room.

▲ Edward Jenner (left), a British physician, developed the vaccinia vaccine. Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes (right). /Wikipedia