Many native people of North America were killed by European (and Russian) diseases to which they had no resistance during the contact period (1400s-1880s). Were non-native colonists and traders similarly affected by the diseases endemic to North America? If not, why?

by stillfindingmyway

I've been taught that measles, small pox, influenza, and most other European diseases (which still had fairly high mortality in Europe at the time) killed native people on a massive scale due to their lack of resistance to those diseases. I assume that native people had endemic diseases of their own that Europeans wouldn't have had resistance to - so why does it seem like colonists and traders weren't affected by native diseases?

Reedstilt

While there's always room for more answers, you may be interested in the Impact of Disease in the Americas section of our FAQs. In particular, /u/anthropology_nerd's reply to When Europeans brought diseases to the new world, how come Europeans themselves didn't get sick from diseases specific to the new world? addresses this topic.