In April 1789, Sydney, Australia, experienced one of its most violent outbreaks of smallpox when the disease swept through aboriginal and colonial Australians on the coast. [1] [2] The outbreak began in early March with the first cases appearing in a tribes living near Port Jackson. [3] Aboriginal communities had no preexisting immunity to smallpox, and suffered mortality rates of around 70%. [4]
Aboriginal tribes on Arnhem Land first contracted smallpox when they made infectious contact with fishermen from southeast Asia. [5] [6] Governor Arthur Philip estimated that around half of the aboriginal population around Sydney harbor died in the outbreak. [6]
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