The syphilis pandemic began towards the end of 1494 when the French king Charles VIII was planning to invade Italy. At that time a few of his troops had become infected with the syphilis bacterium. The army invaded and quickly occupied Rome and Naples. After this easy victory, the soldiers engaged in extended carousing and debauchery involving prostitution and rape. Although they were unaware of it, frequent sexual intercourse results in the rapid spread of syphilis. A few months later many of the troops became ill with an eruption of spots across their bodies. These were ‘boils that stood out like acorns, from whence issued such filthy stinking matter’ [1–3].