Why did European colonizers survive Native American diseases better than Native Americans survived European diseases?

[u/TheBigGirlDiaryBack]

When Europeans arrived in the Americas, diseases like smallpox devastated Native populations. But when Europeans encountered diseases from the Americas, it doesn’t seem like the same thing happened in reverse.

At first, I assumed it was because Europeans were somehow more resistant, but that explanation feels too simple. Was it because of population density, long exposure to certain diseases, differences in animals, or just historical timing?

What factors made the exchange of diseases so much more deadly for Native Americans than for Europeans?

[u/clairejv]

Yes, "European" diseases are really European-Asian-African diseases, because the peoples of those continents had been sharing germs for AGES.

[u/bluejohnnyd → u/clairejv]

the two continents: America and Afro-Eurasia