西班牙殖民活动与外来传染病入侵西属北美

Spanish Colonial Activities and the Spread of Foreign Infectious Diseases in Spain-Occupied North America

1492年哥伦布发现美洲以后,西班牙殖民者不断在北美大陆探查与征服,从事贸易与传教等多种殖民活动。这些活动源源不断地把来自旧世界的各种传染性疾病输入和传播到北美大陆的印第安人社会中。西属北美的西班牙人还通过各种殖民活动改变土著民族的传统生存方式,影响到印第安人的健康状况;改变土著民族的社会与自然环境,尤其是印第安人社会的卫生条件。也正是在西班牙人的殖民活动创造了各种传染病疾病传播和爆发所需要的各种条件后,外来传染病才开始在北美印第安人社会中肆虐。

After Christopher Columbus＇ s voyage in 1492, Spanish settlers continued to probe and conquer the North American Continent and were engaged in various colonial activities, such as trade and missionary work. These activities were constantly importing and spreading infectious diseases from the old world into the Indian communities in North America. The Spanish settlers in the Spain-occupied North America also changed the traditional way of living of indigenous people through various colonial activities. These activities affected the health status of the Indians, changed the social and natural environment of the indigenous people, and altered, especially, the hygienic conditions of Indians. It was after the Spanish colonial activities created the conditions needed for the spread and outbreak of various infectious diseases that the foreign infectious diseases began to rage in North American Indian communities.