How do Diseases Spread and how to Prevent it?
We live in an interconnected, increasingly globalized world. Unfortunately, due to international jet travel, infected people and the diseases they carry can be spread to any city on the planet in a matter of hours.
Why do Pandemics spread very easily?
Once a
virus mutates, sometimes all it takes is one sneeze to spread the infection to
other humans. When humans were hunter-gatherers, roaming the wild savannas, we
were never in one place long enough, and settlements weren't large enough to
sustain the transmission of infectious microbes. But with the advent of the
agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, and the arrival of permanent
settlements in the Middle East, people began living side-by-side with animals,
which made the diseases from cattle spread to humans.
Cholera Pandemic
Epidemics and pandemics are available in many shapes and forms. In 2010, as an example, a
devastating earthquake struck Haiti, forcing thousands of individuals into
temporary refugee camps. Soon, the camps had become breeding grounds for a deadly
bacteria spread by contaminated water, triggering a country-wide epidemic. Yes,
I am talking about Cholera. But the foremost common explanation for epidemics
are viruses, like measles, influenza and HIV. And once they go global, we call
them pandemics.
Pandemics
Pandemics have occurred throughout human history
many have left scars on the tissue of the victim and weakened them. Many have
also been handicapped due to them. This evidence comes from preserved DNA. For
instance, scientists have recovered DNA from the bacteria that transmit
tuberculosis from the remains of ancient Egyptian mummies. And in 2011,
scientists investigating a pandemic pit within the City of London were ready to
reconstruct the genome of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium liable for the Black Death
of the 14th century. It is thought the Black Death Plague had originated in
China by 1340, spreading to the west along the Silk Road and the caravan
route running from Mongolia to Crimea. In 1347, the plague reached the
Mediterranean, and by 1400, it had killed more than 34 million Europeans,
earning it the title, the Great Mortality. It was later historians who called
it the Black Death.
Influenza- the biggest Pandemic Killer
However, by far the biggest and deadliest
pandemic is influenza also known as the Flu. It circulates constantly between
the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. In North America and Europe, the flu
occurs every autumn and winter. As most of the youngsters and adults had been
exposed to the virus in previous seasons. Therefore, these illnesses are
usually mild. However, every 20 to 40 years approximately the virus undergoes a
dramatic mutation. Mostly, this occurs when a wild flu virus found in ducks and
farm poultry meets a virus circulating in a pig, and they exchange genes. This
process is called antigenic shift and has occurred throughout human history.
The First Recorded Pandemic
The first recorded pandemic occurred in 1580. The 18th and 19th centuries saw a minimum of six further pandemics. In terms of
mortality, none can compare with the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. The first
warning of the pandemic came within the spring when American troops in northern
France began complaining of chills, headaches and fever. Then, the subsequent
September, at a U.S. Army barracks near Boston, soldiers started falling sick
and many collapsed on parade, due to this they were sent to the camp infirmary.
As a surgeon there recalled, two hours after admission, they had spots over the
cheekbones and a couple of hours later they started to ascertain the cyanosis
extending from their ears and spreading everywhere on their face. It was only a
matter of time until death came, and it was simply a struggle for air until
they suffocate. On the S.S. Leviathan, a huge American transport on route to
Bordeaux, several sick men haemorrhaged blood from their noses, turning the decks
between their bunks slick with bodily fluids. Other soldiers near them also got
the disease. Meanwhile, British soldiers returning from northern France
introduced the flu to Dover and other Channel ports, from where the virus was
carried by rail to London. By the time the pandemic had run its course in April
1919, an estimated 675,000 Americans and 230,000 Britons were dead. In India
alone, some 10 million were killed, and worldwide the toll was an astonishing
50 million.
How SARS epidemic started
That was then. Today, planes can transport viruses to any country in the world in a fraction of the time it took in 1918. In February 2003, as an example, a Chinese doctor arrived at the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong feeling unwell. Unknown to him, he was harboring a new animal-origin virus called SARS, short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Spread of SARS......... and containment
Within 24 hours of checking into Room 913, sixteen other guests had been infected, and over the subsequent days five boarded planes to overseas destinations, spreading the virus to Vietnam, Singapore and Canada. Flights between Hong Kong, Toronto and other international cities were quickly grounded and because of other emergency measures, an epidemic was averted. By the time the outbreak was over four months later, SARS had infected 29 countries worldwide and over 1,000 people were dead. For all that the virus was rapidly contained. However, there was little that would be done about the alarming news reports carried by cable news channels and therefore the Internet. As bloggers added to the hysteria by spreading unfounded conspiracy theories, tourism in Hong Kong and other affected cities ground to a halt, costing businesses over 10 billion U.S. dollars. One business, however, did fine. Above all, SARS was a reminder that pandemics have always been related to panic.
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