Is there any evidence of malaria in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans?

Answer 1

The illness is caused by a protozoa- meaning no fossils are left. Most of the damage is in the red blood cells, rarely in the liver- so IMO the only possible traces (as in PROOF) MIGHT be found in mummified bodies.
However bear in mind that the migrations of the europeans may not be the only possible transmission vector. For example another protozoa causes sleeping sickness in Africa, and Chaga's disease in South America. Both are endemic to their regions (meaning long standing immunity) and they are almost identical in external appearance.
Also, malaria is quite common in Asia. We know the Chinese sailed all over the world way before europeans did (they quite possibly circumnavigated the world too). Another factor- sailing from West Africa to South America is far easier than from Europe. The fact it was not "officially" recorded does not mean it did not happen (remember that the Vikings discovered North America way before Columbus, but it was considered a fairy tale for centuries)

Answer 2

Two sources:

Malaria probably originated in Africa. Fossils of mosquitoes 30 millions years old show that the vector for malaria was present well before the earliest history of man. Early travelers likely brought strains of Plasmodium from Africa to the New World, a phenomenon that continues to this day as tourists bring malaria home from areas in which the disease is endemic.http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/disease/malaria/index.html

According to Bruce-Chwatt in Essential Malariology (page 1):

Prehistoric man in the Old World was subject to malaria. it is probable that the disease originated in Africa, which is believed to be the cradle of the human race. Fossil mosquitos were found in geological strata 30 million years old and there is no doubt that they have spread the infection through the warmer regions of the globe, long before the dawn of history. Malaria followed in the wake of human migrations to the Mediterranean shores, to Mesopotamia, the Indian peninsula and South-East Asia. How malaria established itself in the New World is subject to speculation, as no reliable historical or other data exist on this point. It is possible that Plasmodium vivax and P.malariae were brought in from South-East Asia by early trans-Pacific voyages, while P.falciparum is of post-Colombian origin, through the African slaves brought by the Spanish colonisers of Central America.
http://www.who.int/malaria/faq.html


Best article:
http://www.bookrags.com/Population_history_of_American_indigenous_peoples

Answer 3

The natives were living with it. Look up quinine (sp?) bark, the sole medication known to treat malaria enough to live with it until the present time. The natives knew nothing about Small Pox before the Europeans.

Answer 4

properly, considering that each and all of the Non Natives spoke back for us, all i can assert is close the hell up. Kay, data places Natives in North usa for over 50,000 years. the place I stay, tribes like the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Mogollon have been farmers. Beans, maize, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, apricots, and turky farming have been the food of the time. As those human beings have been incredibly non violent and weren't lots into searching. The Hohokam and Mogollon lived in Kivas, that have been properties that have been underground with ladders that have been used to pass in and out of them. Anasazi geared up cliff dwellings, the stuff you notice in Colorado (not a similar tribe, yet very very comparable properties). so so some distance as human beings can tell; particulary the trendy-day Pueblos and Pimas (decendants of those tribes); existence replace into good for their ancestors. finally mom nature kicked in, drought and famine brought about those super peoples to go returned into the south. mutually as some declare there replace into violence; actuality isn't any actual data shows, no bodies, no weapons, in basic terms abandoned ruins. ok, now to respond to you question; The Iriqoui Alliance replace into incredibly lots the 1st Represenative Democracy of the 5 countries. Even the Founding Fathers would admit this. females and adult males have been seen as equals, and one wasn't born into skill; particularly they have been chosen by skill of their human beings as a represenative. long properties able to housing entire families, super farms of maize and different nutrition. they had cities as properly, that have been extra advantageous than any settlement from the Euros; So, existence replace into good