By Native Americans, I mean all pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. In OTL, many of the different native cultures succumbed to Old World diseases they never could have developed immunity for, up until that point (due to a multitude of factors). Europeans explorers, conquistadors and colonists bringing in all manner of diseases common in the late-medieval and early modern period was a major contributing issue in the large die-offs among Native American populations, aside from military conquest. Granted, plenty of natives also survived and developed immunity over time, but if their ancestors had no exposure to such diseases for thousands of years, it was difficult to resist them at first.
That brings me to my central question: If a very small group of Old Worlders (ca 30-40) were shipwrecked in the Americas (post-Vikings, but pre-Columbus), would they still pose a disease threat to the natives ?
I am writing a story about medieval castaways in North America, and this has been one of my major issues. How to prevent easy spreading of disease among Amerindians met by that group of castaways. As every person is an individual, I am not convinced every 14th/15th century European would be riddled with diseases and infect all natives by merely standing a few meters from them. I don't think it would be that extreme, but the truth is, there is still a clear danger the castaways could inadvertently infect the natives with something. This could obviously add to the tension between the two groups, even if previous relations were amicable. For the story to work, I need to figure out a way to minimize the impact of the potential diseases.
Any thoughts ?
That brings me to my central question: If a very small group of Old Worlders (ca 30-40) were shipwrecked in the Americas (post-Vikings, but pre-Columbus), would they still pose a disease threat to the natives ?
I am writing a story about medieval castaways in North America, and this has been one of my major issues. How to prevent easy spreading of disease among Amerindians met by that group of castaways. As every person is an individual, I am not convinced every 14th/15th century European would be riddled with diseases and infect all natives by merely standing a few meters from them. I don't think it would be that extreme, but the truth is, there is still a clear danger the castaways could inadvertently infect the natives with something. This could obviously add to the tension between the two groups, even if previous relations were amicable. For the story to work, I need to figure out a way to minimize the impact of the potential diseases.
Any thoughts ?