Syphilis is an awful disease that is transmitted through sexual contact. During the 16th century the disease was called the Great Pox because that was the only way to distinguish it from Small Pox which was an epidemic at the time. The early stages of Syphilis are very similar to that of Small Pox, but the name is actually a little misleading because Small Pox is a far deadlier disease due to how easy it is to spread it.

The theory for how syphilis went from a nonvenereal contact transmission to sexual transmission is called the Columbian theory. This theory states that Christopher Columbus brought a nonvenereal form of Syphilis back from the new world back to Europe. The bacterium then responded to new selective pressures by being transmitted sexually. This theory is supported because of a finding from Guyana that found a disease intermediate.

I think that socially the disease needed to change how it was spread because there was less human to human contact like there was in the new world. The old world was much more civilized during the time that Columbus brought the disease back over and therefore there was really no way for it to be transmitted other than sexually. Culturally I think that it was much different as well. Native Americans were mainly living in group homes at the time, going on hunts, killing animals, handling all food without washing their hands, and wearing minimal to no clothing (in warm areas). The cultures of the old world and the new world at this time were completely different. Once it was discovered that the disease was transmitted sexually there was a new effort to try and control sexual encounters outside of marriage.

I think that T. pallidum, or syphilis, today is how it is due to the lack of Small Pox. I think that the prevalence of Small Pox made it extremely easy for this disease to spread because it was being treated the wrong way for hundreds of years. It could go virtually undetected as the disease it really was because it resembled something completely different. Once Small Pox began to die out, and once syphilis was identified as a different disease all together, it was much easier to catch and it had to change how it acted inside of the host. Syphilis has been so deadly throughout history because it is great at mimicking other things to hide what it really is. When other environmental issues change and different diseases take front stage so do the symptoms for syphilis.