The Impact of Germs on Human History

Bacteria and viruses have been shaping our world in invisible ways for millennia, influencing not only our individual bodies, but also the shape of the world we live in. Infectious diseases like smallpox were transported across the Atlantic by the first arrivals, then decimated the New World populations. The population of the Americas fell by 90% in the century after Columbus arrived in East Banyola. It remains to be seen what impact the latest pandemic will have.