French Disease

                                                                            France

                Syphilis, also known as the "French Disease" 

It is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. 

It gained this name due to its rapid spread across Europe following the French invasion of Naples in 1495. 

The disease was named by Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro in his 1530 poem Syphilis sive morbus gallicus, which tells the story of a shepherd named Syphilus who angered the gods and was afflicted with the disease. 

Syphillis

Then And Now 

                                                                 Snapshot

Syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum.

The first well-documented outbreak occurred in 1495, during the First Italian War, after French troops entered Naples — hence the term “French Disease.”