Where did the cocoliztli epidemic start?

The cocoliztli epidemic of 1576 evolved as an expansive wave originating in the valleys of central Mexico. It reached Sonora to the north and towards the south it extended into the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala (Fig. 1). The illness was first reported in the Valley of Mexico City in April 1576.

What was the cocoliztli?

The cocoliztli epidemic, or the great pestilence, is a term given to millions of deaths in the territory of New Spain in present-day Mexico in the 16th century attributed to one or more illnesses collectively called cocoliztli, a mysterious illness characterized by high fevers and bleeding.

Who brought smallpox to Mexico?

The history of smallpox in Mexico spans approximately 520 years from the arrival of the Spanish to the official eradication in 1951. It was brought to Mexico by those in Spanish ships, then spread to the center of Mexico, where it became a significant factor in the fall of Tenochtitlan.

How was cocoliztli spread?

Cocoliztli was not pulmonary and may not have been a hantavirus but may have been spread by a rodent host. If true, then the prolonged drought before the 16th-century epidemics would have reduced the available water and food resources.

What were the symptoms of cocoliztli?

Victims turned yellow from jaundice, and blood ran from their ears and noses. They had hallucinations and agonizing convulsions. They died in days. Aztecs called it the cocoliztli, meaning pestilence in the local Nahuatl language.

Was cocoliztli contagious?

Francisco Hernández, a lead physician in the Spanish colony, described cocoliztli based on autopsies he performed on the dead: The fevers were contagious, burning, and continuous, all of them pestilential, in most part lethal.

What virus killed the Aztecs?

Smallpox took its toll on the Aztecs in several ways. First, it killed many of its victims outright, particularly infants and young children.

What diseases did the Spanish bring to Mexico?

Earlier, the successful conquest of Mexican Aztec and Peruvian Inca empires by a handful of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, respectively, resulted in large part from epidemics of smallpox and measles virus infection that decimated the native defenders.

Who killed the Mayans and Aztecs?

Hernán Cortés in the Maya lowlands, 1524–25 In 1524, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés led an expedition to Honduras over land, cutting across Acalan in southern Campeche and the Itza kingdom in what is now the northern Petén Department of Guatemala.