How did the conquistadors contract malaria?

[Al B. Sure!]

It's always said that while the Indians suffered from smallpox and what not, the invading Spanish took a beating with syphillis and malaria.

but malaria? Don't Spanish, as well as all people in the mediterrenean, have the same natural immunity to malaria that africans do? what happened?

[chequita guevara]

They got malaria the same way everyone else does, from mosquito bites.

And only people with sickle cell anemia genes have a natural immunity. Africans are more likely to have the genes, but it's not a guarantee. I've never heard that Mediterranians also had the sickle cell gene in high numbers.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Berbers, Turks, arabs, and populations all the way east to the western side of India-Pakistan have elevated levels of sickle-cell genes in their populations.

A very large number of Africans don't have it at all, or have it in very small numbers.

Malarial resistance is almost exclusively related to carrying the sickle-cell gene.

[Al B. Sure!]

Chegitz:

actually, a quarter of all sickle cell anemia cases are with mediterrenean people.

alright so i guess even with relatively high numbers of sickle cell carriers, not all mediterreneans/africans got immunity. i guess that makes sense... i mean if all were sickle cell carriers than huge percentages of the mediterenean/african population would be dying off from anemia left and right


thanks

[Zylka]

Wait a minute... I thought that race doesn't exist, just as these kind of differences shouldn't

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT

[BeBMan]

What race are mediterraneans?

[Evil Knevil]

Semitic peoples? i.e Arabs, Jews, Berbers....?

[BeBMan]

But not those Spaniards, hm?

[Zylka]

Originally posted by BeBro
What race are mediterraneans?

I didn't say Mediterraneans are a single race, nor did I say the Spanish hold the gene - COME TO THINK OF IT, DID ANYONE???

Kind of like asking "what is the name of all objects colored red?"

[Evil Knevil]

No idea!

Peoples in the Iberian peninsular are a mixture of Arabs, Berbers, 'Celts' and Romans. Most of the world is so interbred that racial characteristics are mostly a fiction.

Syphilis probably wasn't brought back from the Americas, there are references to a 'maddening leprosy' from Greek times. The Crusaders brought back a 'Saracen Leprosy' with all the symptoms of classic syphilis. Its more likely a Trans-oxianic disease.

Further evidence for this is that the virulence of the disease has decreased in history, but if it only came over in 1500, then thats too little time for it to 'die down' in strength.

[BeBMan]

Well, then what´s the problem here?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Zylka
Wait a minute... I thought that race doesn't exist, just as these kind of differences shouldn't

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT

Race doesn't exist.

Mutant genes that confer odd advantages do. The sickle cell gene mutation appears in virtually all populations, it just confers an evolutionary advantage in areas where malaria is endemic and medical treatment is scarce.

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Race doesn't exist.

and the holocaust never happened.

[MichaeltheGreat]

The holocaust is an event.

Is race an "event" or just a far from universal mental concept?

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
The holocaust is an event.

Is race an "event" or just a far from universal mental concept?

race was an event. god greated the darker skinned people so we would know who not to trust.