Yeah, Europeans caught syphilis from indigenous Americans, and without any existing immunity to it there was a genuinely terrifying pandemic in Europe with worse symptoms than present-day forms of the disease (and no penicillin to treat it).
But indigenous Americans caught smallpox, measles, influenza, and typhus from Europeans, so it really wasn’t a fair exchange.
Yeah, Europeans caught syphilis from indigenous Americans, and without any existing immunity to it there was a genuinely terrifying pandemic in Europe with worse symptoms than present-day forms of the disease (and no penicillin to treat it).
But indigenous Americans caught smallpox, measles, influenza, and typhus from Europeans, so it really wasn’t a fair exchange.
That’s where syphilis came from?? Man, I really do learn so much from this community.