Patient zero: First outbreak
Disease devastates Aboriginal communities in 1789
βAboriginal people had a name for it... they called it βDevil Devilβ...β
In 1789, a disease tore through Aboriginal communities around Sydney Cove, or Warrane, leaving dead bodies floating in the harbour, and scattered along the shorelines. The evidence points to this being smallpox, but thereβs still debate
over how it got to Australia. Was it an accidental import with the arrival of European ships? Did it come from trading with other peoples in the region? Or was it deliberately introduced as a form of germ warfare?
In this episode, Olivia Willis and Nakari Thorpe ask Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about this catastrophic moment in their history, and hear how their ancestors survived a cocktail of diseases theyβd never before encountered.
Producers: Jane Lee, Cheyne Anderson
Senior Producer: Carl Smith
Executive Producer: Joel Werner
Sound Design: Tim Jenkins
Patient Zero is a production of ABC Science, Radio National, and the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
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- Mon 31 May 2021 19:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Tue 1 Jun 2021 03:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Tue 1 Jun 2021 04:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Tue 1 Jun 2021 08:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Tue 1 Jun 2021 12:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa, East Asia, South Asia & West and Central Africa
- Mon 7 Jun 2021 00:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Americas and the Caribbean
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