Columbus cleared of importing syphilis

I have read it was brough to europe by the Crusaders.

I'd never heard of this before, but if Columbus technically wasn't the first over here then it stands to reason that others would've brought the disease back long before him.

I'd never heard of this before, but if Columbus technically wasn't the first over here then it stands to reason that others would've brought the disease back long before him. well said.

Like cancer I think the Dino's spead the disease while we were still little rat like critters. ... syphilis probably cannot be "blamed"—as it often is—on any geographical area or specific race. The evidence suggests that the disease existed in both hemispheres from prehistoric times. It is only coincidental with the Columbus expeditions that the syphilis previously thought of as "lepra" flared into virulence at the end of the fifteenth century. From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis#Origins

LEIF! YOU GOT SOME SPLANIN TO DO!!!