We know a decent amount about what happened after the Conquistadors landed. I'm curious what the peoples of the time, and after, thought about it. Has anything made it down to us of their views on the diseases? Stories, traditions of remembrance, etc.
You might be interested in this earlier post, were I talk about the two first major cocoliztli epidemics in colonial Mexico, in 1545 and 1576. I'm looking at some descriptions by both native and Spanish authors. The name cocoliztli is Nahuatl for "pest” - they were indigenous hemorrhagic fevers. Let me know if you have more questions on that post.
In case you want to read some more about the general topic I'd also recommend this great part of the faq on diseases in the Americas.