[blam]

"This is despite the popular PC notion that only European illnesses nearly destroyed the Aztec race."

I immediately wondered if this disease was connected to other 'lost civilizations' there and in South America.

[Wiseghy]

"I immediately wondered if this disease was connected to other 'lost civilizations' there and in South America"

That is a great point. It is believed now that the Inca and Maya both vanished with out European intervention after extended periods of drought and war. I don't doubt that pandemics played a large roll. This would parallel the rodent spread illnesses that killed large portions of Europe in similar over-crowed urban centers.