diseases ethne barnes and HUMAN EVOLUTION ANTHROPOLOGY • MEDICINE R ecent interest in new diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola, and the resurgence of older diseases like tuberculosis has fostered questions about the history of human infectious diseases. How did they evolve? Where did they originate? What natural factors have stalled the progres- sion of diseases or made them possible? How does a microorganism become a pathogen? How have infectious diseases changed through d a time? What can we do to control their occurrence? n Writing in a clear, lively style, Barnes offers general overviews of d every variety of disease and their carriers, from insects and worms i through rodent vectors to household pets and farm animals. She devotes H whole chapters to major infectious diseases such as leprosy, syphilis, Us smallpox, mad cow disease, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease. M e A “This fascinating book brings together information about emerging and reemerging infectious diseases and human cultural evolution.... N ethne The book is very readable. I recommend this book very highly, a E particularly for college and public libraries.” barnes V — Science Books & Films O s “Ethne Barnes provides a readable account of diseases past L and future and of how human habits influence disease.” U e — JAMA: Journal of American Medical Association T I “[Diseases and Human Evolution] provides a fairly complete O s understanding of the subspecialty of medical anthropology N which examines the interplay of human culture and the evolution of disease.” — Doody’s Medical Reviews Ethne Barnes was a paleopathologist at Wichita State University. She has done research in Greece, China, Mongolia, and the American Southwest and is the author of Developmental Defects of the Axial Skeleton in Paleopathology. She currently lives in Arizona. cover images:blood cells ©Getty Images; DNA ©Corbis; isbn-13: 0-8263-3066-6 Skeleton: Bernard Siegfried Albinus, Tabulae Sceleti et isbn-10: 0-8263-3066-5 Musculorum Corporis Humani,1747,Plate 2 xHSKIMGy330666zv*:+:!:+:! cover design:Kathleen Sparkes University of New Mexico Press 9 unmpress.com • 800-249-7737 Diseases and Human Evolution Bernard Siegfried Albinus, Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani,1747,Plate 2 diseases and HUMAN EVOLUTION Ethne Barnes University of New Mexico Press Albuquerque © 2005by the University of New Mexico Press All rights reserved. Published 2005 Printed in the U.S.A. 10 09 08 07 06 05 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barnes, Ethne. Diseases and human evolution / Ethne Barnes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn0-8263-3065-7(cloth : alk. paper) 1. Epidemiology. 2. Medical anthropology. I. Title. RA651.B3652005 614.4—dc22 2005004169 Book design and type composition by Kathleen Sparkes Body text is Trump Mediaeval 9/14; 26p Display type is Serlio and Frutiger Light CONTENTS Preface xi CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 The Meaning of Disease 2 Approaches to Understanding Disease 5 • Coming Together 6 Germs, Genes, Geography, and Human Behavior 7 Concluding Comments 8 CHAPTER 2 The War between Microbes and Men 9 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 12 • The War Zone 19 Immunity throughout the Life Cycle 24 Concluding Comments 24 CHAPTER 3 Early Humans and Their Diseases 27 Wanderlust 27 • Evolutionary Hitchhikers 28 Herpes 30 • Roving Parasites and Opportunistic Microbes 33 Insect Carriers of Disease 34 • Hitchhiking Insects 35 Ingestion of Parasites 37 • Trichinosis 39 • Tapeworms (Cestodes) 40 Noninfectious Disease and Dental Disease 41 Paleolithic Times 42 Concluding Comments 43 CHAPTER 4 The Seeds of Change 45 Prologue 45 • The Best of Times 47 • Changing Times 48 Changes in Disease Patterns 51 • Rodent-borne Diseases 52 Insect-borne Diseases 54 • Togetherness in a Crowded Village 57 Intestinal Roundworms (Nematodes) 58 • Hookworms 61 Noninfectious Disease and Dental Disease 62 Concluding Comments 63 CHAPTER 5 Mosquitoes, Malaria,and Gene Wars 67 Shifting Paradigms 67 • The Vectors of Malaria 69 Evolution of Malaria 74 The Lives of the Plasmodia Parasites of Malaria 76 The Disease Complex 80 • Endemic versus Epidemic Malaria 85 Surviving the New Order through Genetics 86 Concluding Comments 96 CHAPTER 6 Invitation to a Minute Worm:The Schistosomes 99 Background Check 99 • The Onerous Guest 100 The African Invitation 105 • The Asian Invitation 110 Concluding Comments 112 CHAPTER 7 Braving New Worlds: Invisible Enemies of Settlers 115 Paradise Found and Lost 115 Avoiding Africa’s Fly Belts and the Sleeping Sickness 117 Making Room for Chagas’ Disease in the New World 122 Leishmaniases: Old and New World 125 • Flying Worms (Filariae) 130 Concluding Comments 134 CHAPTER 8 Domesticated Animals and Disease 137 Man’s Best Friend 138 • Dogs and Rabies 139 • Cat Fanciers 140 Cats and Toxoplasmosis 141 • Taking Stock 143 Goats and Brucellosis 147 • Bringing the Cows Home, and Anthrax 150 No News Is Good News in the New World 153 Concluding Comments 154 CHAPTER 9 Cows, Mycobacteria,and Tuberculosis 157 Mycobacteria 157 • Cows and the Mycobacteria of Tuberculosis 158 Tuberculosis: The Human Disease 160 Disease from Environmental Mycobacteria 166 The Ancient Trail of Tuberculosis 167 Concluding Comments 171 CHAPTER 10 The Moral Disease: Leprosy 173 What Makes a Leper? 173 • The Culprit of Leprosy 174 Different Sores for Different Folks 176 • The History of Leprosy 180 Concluding Comments 182 CHAPTER 11 The Coming of Civilization 185 The Lands of Plenty 186 • Opportunity Knocks 188 Evolution of Childhood Diseases 190 Concluding Comments 200 CHAPTER 12 Syphilis:The Great Change Artist 201 The Agent 201 • The Many Faces of Syphilis 203 The Yaws Version 204 • The Pinta Version 205 Nonvenereal Syphilis 206 • Venereal Syphilis 207 Different Scenes, Different Patterns of Sores 207 • Congenital Syphilis 211 Changeovers 212 • The Great Historical Pretense and the Facts 213 Concluding Comments 217 CHAPTER 13 Memories of Smallpox 221 The Virus 221 • The Disease 223 • The Trail of Smallpox 226 Desperate Measures 230 • Cowpox 233 • The Hybrid Virus 233 Concluding Comments 234 CHAPTER 14 Pestilence, Plague,and Rats 237 Rats Take Over the World 238 • Rat Fleas and Yersinia pestis 241 The Disease 243 • Origin and Spread: The Great Rat Migrations 244 Concluding Comments 248 CHAPTER 15 Of Lice and Men: Plus Ticks, Mites,and Chiggers 251 Lice and Men at War 251 • Wild Flea-borne Typhus 253 Human (Louse-borne) Typhus 255 • Brill-Zinsser Disease 257 History of Typhus 258 • Trench Fever 261 Ticks, Mites, Chiggers, and Spotted Fevers 262 Concluding Comments 267 CHAPTER 16 Marching to a New World Order: European Expansion and the Industrial Revolution 269 Medieval Prologue 269 • The Great Paradigm Shift 271 The Great Leap Forward 273 Concluding Comments 276 CHAPTER 17 Easy Route to Fame and Gripe: Cholera,the Salmonella Gang,and Other Prominent Gut Bugs 279 The Story of Cholera 280 • The Salmonella Gang 287 Other Prominent Gut Bugs 293 Concluding Comments 297 CHAPTER 18 Transoceanic Hitchhikers:Yellow Fever and Its Dengue Cousin 299 Yellow Fever 300 The Yellow Fever Viral Impact on the Human Host 303 Yellow Fever Epilogue 305 • Dengue Fever 306 Primary Infection of Dengue Fever 307 Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever 309 Concluding Comments 310 CHAPTER 19 Food for Thought:The Mystery Diseases 313 Food Choices and Availability 314 The Mystery Diseases: For Lack of Certain Nutrients 316 The Land of All You Can Eat 331 Concluding Comments 334 CHAPTER 20 The Globalization of Influenza 337 What Is Influenza? 337 • The Agents of Infection 339 Shifting Subtypes and Drifting New Lineages 342 The 1918Influenza Pandemic 343 • Early History of Influenza 346 Post-1918Influenza 348 • The 1976Swine Flu Fiasco 349 The 1997Bird Flu Scare 351 Concluding Comments 352 CHAPTER 21 Diseases of Modern Civilization 355 On the Road to Affluence 355 • Operation “Clean Sweep” 357 Epidemic Poliomyelitis 359 • Meningococcal Meningitis 362 The Hepatitis World 364 • Obstreperous Strep and the Staph of Life 367 Opportunistic Legionnaire’s Disease 375 • Lyme Disease 376 The Mystery of Chronic Diseases 380 • Cancer Wars 382 Concluding Comments 385 CHAPTER 22 The New Viral Wars and Sleeping Dragons 387 The HIV/AIDS Pandemic 388 • Hemorrhagic Fevers 398 Viral Encephalitis 406 Concluding Comments 411 CHAPTER 23 Back to the Future 413 SARS: The Warning Shot Heard around the World 414 Pollution’s Progress 415 • A Word about Fungus 418 Germs and Chemicals Designed for War 419 Mad Cows, Designer Pigs, and Fancy Plants 422 The Greatest Danger: A Crowded World 425 • Out of Order 426 Concluding Comments: Ignorance Is Not Bliss 428 Works Cited 429 Index 469