In 2019 a book was published entitled Epidemics and Society from the Black Death to the present. It was written by Frank M Snowden. It is fascinating to learn that only half a century ago two infectious disease departments of renowned US universities were closed under the misguided belief that their job was done. The fact that we are now in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, rates of measles and mumps are rising and even newer infectious diseases are appearing should shake us from that previous complacency.
Snowdon’s book suggests that infectious diseases, over history, have shaped society in ways that are as critical as other crises such as wars, revolution, famine, shortage of water, or economic collapse. Given that, perhaps we need to give this topic a great deal more attention. A table can help to put it in historical context (see below). It certainly indicates that pandemics have been around a long time and highlights how deadly the Justinian plague, the Black Death, and the Spanish Flu were compared to all the rest. It is salutary to realise that those who survived the killing fields of World War I also endured the deadly Spanish flu that followed it. In case we thought our present generation was particularly blighted by disease it is worth remembering humanity has seen much worse days.
A quick look at the WHO disease outbreak page today, provides an urgent wake-up call. The war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo is suffering from more than Ebola (fatality rates of 90%). There is also a measles outbreak, and a circulating strain of polio that mutated from the live, weakened one in the oral vaccine. It is worrying to discover that the old enemy of humanity, plague broke out in Madagascar in the last five years. It is endemic in that country, but has been successfully brought under control by the concentrated efforts of International bodies and local government. It is worth understanding the vocabulary used in discussing diseases. I have to confess I only recently understood the difference between endemic, outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic. For something that has impacted us all on so many levels, it is worth understanding these words precisely.
Between March and July of 2021 there has been an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus in Saudi Arabia. Although only 810 deaths have occurred, this disease has an eye-watering fatality rate of 35% (Covid 19 is around roughly 2.5%). In reading the information about this outbreak the WHO declares (WHO)
“Food hygiene practices should be observed. People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked.”
You are no doubt relieved to hear that your personal risk of catching this disease from eating camels or drinking camel urine is low! Camels can be easily avoided by most of us, but don’t feel too relaxed this MERS-CoV has demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans too. Indeed other species of animals and creatures are also perfectly capable of spreading diseases to humans. Monkeys are responsible for the Monkey B virus with a horrendous fatality rate of 42%. Well, I say responsible but if we didn’t hunt, keep, kill and eat such animals we might be fine. Bats are responsible for horrid diseases with huge fatality rates ranging from Marburg virus at 50% to the Nipah virus with a 75% rate. Worryingly even the tiny simple Tsetsy fly can cause the African Sleeping disease which has a 42.5% fatality rate. The cute sounding Dear mouse can cause Hantavisus pulmonary syndrome with a fatality of 36%. Not to mention bird flu whose fatality rate is also in the region of 20-40%. Then finally, to freak everyone out there is the Brain-eating amoeba which lives in warm fresh water and enters our body through our noses and results in a 95% fatality rate. I suspect your feeling of relief at the start of this paragraph has just about dissolved by now.
There is of course good news on many fronts and I’ll just mention three.
- When the world collaborates and works together to fight a deadly virus, as in the case of Smallpox, it is incredible what the world can achieve. This virus caused 500 million deaths in its last 100 years of existence but a united humanity managed to eradicate it in 1980. However, it did take 200 years from the discovery of a successful vaccine for this to happen. The signs are that the world has been able to speed up this process considerably as shown by the recent Covid 19 pandemic. However, without a unified approach communities left unprotected from any disease are not only more vulnerable to this disease but also provide a perfect breeding ground for new variants/viruses which can undo all that has been achieved.
- The other good news is the range of treatments now available for so many of these contagious diseases and this has helped reduce the fatality statistics mentioned earlier. Providing good timely medical treatment is such a no-brainer we should be supplying it to every human being in need. We should certainly not be allowing immune systems to be weakened through lack of food or access to safe water. Prevention is not only extremely cost-effective it helps us use our medical interventions in a more targeted way.
- It is excellent to know that our own bodies have a system of defence that is truly breathtaking. Our immune system has huge groups of cells designed specifically to defend the body from illness and infection. These are crack troops designed to fight pathogens, viruses, bacteria, and mutated cells that seek to do us harm. We actually have two separate armies to defend us one innate and the other acquired through previous exposure. One army is excellent at attacking quickly, the second is battle-hardened troops who have successfully fought this enemy before.
The more you think about the human body and how all the major organs work to keep it healthy perhaps a similar pattern is necessary in a world community working to address the important problems we face. Diseases can shape societies as history has shown but they also force us to think globally as one people on one planet.
“The bedrock of a strategy that can engage the world’s population in assuming responsibility for its collective destiny must be the consciousness of the oneness of humankind.”
Bahá’í International Community
