00405925

open access

Version of Record

オーストラリア ニオケル テンネントウ ノ レキシ ト デンセツ

<Short Papers>The History of the Outbreak of Smallpox and the Myth in Australia

Japanese (日本語)

国際協力論集

12(2)

125-136

神戸大学大学院国際協力研究科

2004-10

2007-06-07

Smallpox was a disease with the obvious and characteristic clinical signs and caused dramatic and disastrous. When and Where smallpox originated is not known， but it was long the subject of myths and then physicians and historians wrote much about it. Historical accounts also described smallpox in Europe and Africa from around the sixth and seventh centuries， and its introduction into the Americas in the sixteenth century caused the death of millions of indigenous people. As for Australia， the first outbreak of smallpox was recognized among the aborigines near the New European settlement at Sydney in 1789， and spread among the aboriginal population of south-eastern Australia widely. In this outbreak， none of the white settlers was affected but one colored seaman suffered from the disease. The origin of this outbreak has never been determined. After this， smallpox appears in 1829~ 1831 when it spread extensively through the indigenous population of south-eastern Australia. Once again， the origin of this outbreak was never determined. Not having been presented a definite source especially in the 1789 first case and the 1829~ 1831 second case， there were many disputes as a possible souse of smallpox. It has been said by the people of the mainstream who have tried to cling to power by playing the race card that two cases had come from Indonesia instead of Australia. At any rate， smallpox epidemics introduced at the time of British settlement have decimated the aboriginal tribes and declined in aboriginal numbers killing one-half of them in the southern part of Australia. Therefore， smallpox have played a major role in weakening the resistance of the indigenous peoples to the European expansion， and opened the way for the settlement.

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