天花是一种通过呼吸传播的致命的高度传染性疾病,曾经一度传遍整个世界。它通过一种看不见的病毒传播,以惊人的速度传染给个人及群体;它的死亡率高达近1/3。在早期的罗马帝国,大约有300万至700万人被天花夺去了性命。仅仅在20世纪天花在全球被彻底根除以前,它就夺去了约3亿人的性命。在16世纪,当西班牙人第一次登上美洲大陆时,他们带去了很多当地人不习惯的事物,包括马、火器、钢盔以及武器。可最重要的是,西班牙人给当 Smallpox is a fatal highly contagious disease that spreads through the breath and was once spread throughout the world. It spreads to individuals and groups at an alarming rate through an invisible virus spread; its mortality rate is as high as nearly 1/3. In the early Roman Empire, about 3 to 7 million people were killed by smallpox. Just before the global eradication of the 20th century, it had claimed the lives of about 300 million people. In the 16th century, when the Spanish first landed on the American continent, they brought with them many things that the locals were not used to, including horses, firearms, helmets, and weapons. Most importantly, the Spaniards gave it