La guerra biológica en la conquista del nuevo mundo: Una revisión histórica y sistemática de la literatura

Abstract

Five centuries ago the European invaders arrived to the New World. They carried with them what turned out to be their main allies in the conquest of the continent: smallpox, measles and influenza viruses. In an attempt to recompose the process of dissemination of such diseases, a systematic review of the biomedical and historical literature was performed, to investigate how the Spaniards first, and the British later, used mainly smallpox to undertake a biological warfare against the American Indians, which eventually meant the biggest population catastrophe that America has never suffered in all its history.