Did Another Unknown Disease Actually Destroy the Aztec Nation?
Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlanand its vicinity. But, according to physician, epidemiologist, and molecular biologist Rodolfo Acuña-Soto (of the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology; Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine), an analysis of historical records from the period suggests that a disease even deadlier than smallpox might have been at least partially responsible for later epidemics that effectively eliminated the remaining native population. And his hypothesis, if established, may raise important public heath issues for both the present inhabitants of the region as well as the remainder of the western hemisphere and possibly the world. The hypothesis that a disease other than smallpox might have been responsible for the pandemic which eventually killed an estimated 80% of the native inhabitants of Mexico made its first appearance in the popular press in a Discovery (February, 2006) magazine article, although it had been mentioned in the professional litera
