New hypothesis for cause of epidemic among native Americans, New England, 1616-1619.

John S Marr,John T Cathey

doi:10.3201/eid1602.090276

Abstract

In the years before English settlers established the Plymouth colony (1616-1619), most Native Americans living on the southeastern coast of present-day Massachusetts died from a mysterious disease. Classic explanations have included yellow fever, smallpox, and plague. Chickenpox and trichinosis are among more recent proposals. We suggest an additional candidate: leptospirosis complicated by Weil syndrome. Rodent reservoirs from European ships infected indigenous reservoirs and contaminated land and fresh water. Local ecology and high-risk quotidian practices of the native population favored exposure and were not shared by Europeans. Reduction of the population may have been incremental, episodic, and continuous; local customs continuously exposed this population to hyperendemic leptospiral infection over months or years, and only a fraction survived. Previous proposals do not adequately account for signature signs (epistaxis, jaundice) and do not consider customs that may have been instrumental to the near annihilation of Native Americans, which facilitated successful colonization of the Massachusetts Bay area.

Highlights

In the years before English settlers established the Plymouth colony (1616–1619), most Native Americans living on the southeastern coast of present-day Massachusetts died from a mysterious disease
We offer an alternative hypothesis for the cause of an epidemic among Native Americans in the years immediately before the arrival of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts
Previous Explanations One hundred years ago, Williams collected all known information about the epidemic in an article that included 23 primary references, 22 of which contained eyewitness accounts or reports [3]

Summary

This study

Previous Explanations One hundred years ago, Williams collected all known information about the epidemic in an article that included 23 primary references, 22 of which contained eyewitness accounts or reports [3]. He concluded that the disease may have been bubonic plague and supported his proposal by noting that there were abundant fleas in Indian dwellings, survivors had sores suggestive of buboes, and plague was endemic in London during 1606–1611.

Discussion

European susceptibility