Papatlaca

The Disease

The name for the disease papatlaca comes from the Nahuatl word meaning "to shiver". The Spanish often dropped a syllable and called it "paplaca", but they also referred to it as "temblar".

As the name indicates, the first major symptom of papatlaca is uncontrollable shaking of the entire body. Other symptoms include chills, coughing, difficulty breathing, massive swelling (sometimes to the point where the skin splits), and great thirst. Symptoms are much more mild in children than adults, and is much more survivable by children than adults.

Statistically; the disease is from 20% to 60% fatal in adults and from 0% to 5% fatal in children. The lower mortality rates generally apply when the victim is well cared for and the higher rates apply when the victim cannot find care. Once someone has survived papatlaca they cannot catch the disease again; they acquire a lifetime immunity.

In sparsely populated regions the disease would come and go in waves over the years and would often prove devastating. It was endemic, however, in densely populated regions, virtually guaranteeing that persons would be exposed to papatlaca in their youth, survive, and become immune to further infection.

Aztec cities were large enough for papatlaca to be endemic. Further, there was a cultural requirement for families in outlying regions to travel to cities for special religious ceremonies. This often had the unintended benefit of exposing rural people to the disease in their childhood when the symptoms were relatively mild.

History

Papatlaca is a disease which first occurred in the 10th century, when the Maya civilization was collapsing, and there was already a massive die off due to famine. In the next century it spread throughout much of mesoamerica. By the 13th century it had reached South America.

A general outline of the history:

• Spanish exploring Aztec Empire contract papatlaca.
• Hispaniola ravaged by papatlaca.
• Ships which travel back to Spain to warn of the disease, and to escape from the disease, end up actually bringing the disease with them to the Old World.
• Travel to/from Hispaniola greatly reduced but smallpox still arrives by slave from Africa in 1520.
• Old World suffers greatly
• New World suffers greatly (but not as much as OTL)
• Some Spanish (and Africans) remain in New World.
• Both worlds slowly recover and establish relations which are somewhat more equitable than in OTL.