SSC MTS EXAM

Detailed explanation-1: -They had never experienced smallpox, measles or flu before, and the viruses tore through the continent, killing an estimated 90% of Native Americans. Smallpox is believed to have arrived in the Americas in 1520 on a Spanish ship sailing from Cuba, carried by an infected African slave.

Detailed explanation-2: -There is little dispute that in the wake of European colonists’ arrival in the New World, Native American populations were decimated by disease and conflict. But debate has continued around the timing, magnitude, and wider effects of this depopulation.

Detailed explanation-3: -Europeans had spent more time living in close proximity to one another and with animals. This meant that had been more opportunities for diseases to evolve in European society than in the Americas, hence the assymetry.