From: "Madeleine Yeh" <myeh at wap.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Third Friday Minutes
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 07:36:38 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 18:05:52 -0400 (EDT)
  dicconf <dicconf at radix.net> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2005, Madeleine Yeh wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:45:59 -0400
>>   "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu> wrote:
>> >> macbuccfo at msn.com 4/20/2005 1:40:12 PM >>>
>> >>silly Europeans? Too bad they didn't have any plagues
>> >>them could give the
>> >>intruders to their shores. Might have changed history
>>in
>> >>significant
>> >>ways...
>> >

>>     Why alt history?  The death toll for people going to
>> Africa and India from Europe used to be quite high ....
>>   Or trying to make a fortune on the sugar islands.
>>  Malaria, Yellow jack.  Or Louisiana
>
> Dang!  I forgot Yellow Jack, but Malaria wasn't given to
>Europeans by the
> Indians.  It was worldwide as far back as records go.
>

    It wasn't a "new" disease to Europeans but it was
endemic and still is all over Africa/India and discouraged
colonization.  The gin and tonic the English used to drink
all over India was a method of getting quinine down to
prevent fevers.  Then there are various parasites native
to the tropics.  Of course now we have Ebola and Marsburg