5 Syphilis

The actual origin of this venereal condition is unknown. The first well described epidemic of the disease is dated from the fifteenth century. This European epidemic came about after the year of 1495, when the French, accompanied by the Spanish, invaded Italy. After the invasion, a strange and gruesome disease began to spread with sores, ulcers and skeletal pain, followed by physical incapacity and death. It then became known as the French disease. Of course, other names also followed, such as the Spanish disease, Italian, and so on (2-10).