Mass slavery and the spread of bacterial diseases

Lured by relatively high-paying jobs,people migrated to banana zones.From Guatemala to Colombia,United Fruit’s plantations grew exclusively Gros Michel bananas.These densely packed farms had little biological diversity,making them ripe for disease epidemics.The infrastructure connecting these vulnerable farms could quickly spread disease:pathogens could hitch a ride from one farm to another on workers’ boots,railroad cars, and steamships.