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Likely the deadliest disease agent in human history, the Black Death in its most virulent (1347-51) and later manifestations repeatedly devastated Eurasian societies, most notably in the fourteenth century.

Europeans precipitated one of the greatest demographic catastrophes of all time by introducing a constellation of previously unknown diseases including smallpox into the Americas after 1492. Many native communities lost 90 percent or more of their populations in the first century after contact. Some ethnic groups ceased to exist. Others slowly recovered. Remnant populations joined with nearby native groups or lived among the colonists. Vary search terms (e.g., "Indians of North America" AND smallpox) because no single subject heading or keyword could capture the catastrophic effects of the introduction of Old World diseases into the New.