--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The viruses that cause smallpox…" description: "\"“The viruses that cause smallpox, influenza, hepatitis, measles, encephalitis, and viral pneumonia; the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, diphtheria, c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/charles-c-mann-7228_history_the-viruses-that-cause-smallpox-influenz_2142972.jpg" --- # The viruses that cause smallpox, influenza, hepatitis… ![“The viruses that cause smallpox, influenza, hepatitis, measles, encephalitis, and viral pneumonia; the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera, typhus, scarlet fever, and bacterial meningitis—by a quirk of evolutionary history, all were unknown in the Western Hemisphere.” quote by Charles C. Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/charles-c-mann-7228_history_the-viruses-that-cause-smallpox-influenz_2142972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/charles-c-mann-7228_history_the-viruses-that-cause-smallpox-influenz_2142972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0db/charles-c-mann-7228_history_the-viruses-that-cause-smallpox-influenz_2142972.jpg) > ““The viruses that cause smallpox, influenza, hepatitis, measles, encephalitis, and viral pneumonia; the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera, typhus, scarlet fever, and bacterial meningitis—by a quirk of evolutionary history, all were unknown in the Western Hemisphere.”” [Charles C. Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical diseases that devastated Europe were absent in the Americas due to separate evolutionary paths. **In simple terms:** Old world diseases never reached the New World. Key Takeaway Recognize how geography shapes health history. Themes epidemiology history geography Mood reflective informative Type historical educational When to use this quote - public health policy - education curricula - museum exhibits Key Concepts evolutionary biology colonial impact Questions to Reflect On - How did this isolation affect indigenous populations? - What modern parallels exist? A Different Perspective Assumes no other unknown pathogens existed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cause Smallpox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cause-smallpox-4469607/) [Cholera Typhus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cholera-typhus-4469609/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Smallpox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smallpox/) [Smallpox Influenza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smallpox-influenza-1726059/) [Viruses Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viruses-cause-4469608/) ## Related quotes > [“In 1634, smallpox and influenza ravaged both the Indians and the English in the region. William Brewster, whose family had managed to survive the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/in-1634-smallpox-and-influenza-ravaged-both-the-indians-and-the/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [If there is love, smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples. I'll love your face no matter what it looks like. 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"and what is serious is that it will certainly spoil his face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/it-is-feared-that-it-may-be-the-smallpox-sir-replied-porthos-and-what/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“When James Larrick and his colleagues studied the still relatively isolated Waorani Indians of Ecuador, they found no evidence of hypertension, heart disease, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/when-james-larrick-and-his-colleagues-studied-the-still-relatively/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [This year, 1996, has been designated the 'Year of the Vaccine,' commemorating the 200th anniversary of Edward Jenner's vaccination of James Phipps with cowpox…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-c-doherty/this-year-1996-has-been-designated-the-year-of-the-vaccine/) [Peter C. 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Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) > [“Anything goes now, apparently,” Fiedel told me. “The lunatics have taken over the asylum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-c-mann/anything-goes-now-apparently-fiedel-told-me-the-lunatics-have-taken/) [Charles C. Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) [Explore all 93 Charles C. Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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