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Global Pandemics, 9/1/07
Key Lecture Points:
Global human pandemics often begin as zoonoses, diseases that normally inhabit animals. The majority of animal diseases are not transmissible to humans or if transmissible, cause no, or mild, illness. Sometimes, an animal pathogen can mutate into a form that is transmissible to humans and causes severe illness.
Three conditions must be met for the emergence of a human pandemic: a new disease must emerge that the population has no immunity against, the disease agent must infect humans and cause serious illness, and the disease agent must spread easily among humans.
The first pandemic recorded was the plague of Athens in 430 B.C. The plague is believed to be caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi, the cause of typhoid fever.
The Black Death of the 1300s was caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the bubonic plague. The disease was spread by fleas from infected rats. It is estimated that over one third of the population of Europe died during this outbreak.
The 1918 Influenza pandemic killed 40 100 million people worldwide and is believed to have originated in Kansas as an avian influenza virus that mutated and was able to infect humans and sustain human-to-human transmission.
AIDS has killed more than 25 million people worldwide, with Sub-Saharan Africa being hit particularly hard. The disease is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that most likely originated from a mutated Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. The cross to humans is estimated to have occurred in the 1930s.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) raised concerns as a possible future pandemic. SARS is caused by a coronavirus, however, strict quarantine procedures are credited with preventing the spread of the disease.
Concerns exist that the H5N1 Avian Flu may cause a future pandemic. Currently the disease is confined to birds of the Eastern Hemisphere. Numbers of human cases remain low due to the inability of the virus to be easily transmissible from human-to-human.
Exploration Questions:
What are major challenges which the world faces in fighting a potential pandemic?
What steps should be taken to meet those challenges in the event of a pandemic?
In what ways does the modern era of technological advances help the fight against pandemics?
Reflective Question:
Have you ever been subjected to a quarantine or known someone who was? If so, what was the experience like?
For More Information:
World Health Organization (WHO) on avian influenza: www.who.int/csr
WHO on HIV/AIDS: www.who.int/hiv
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on pandemic influenza: www.pandemicflu.gov/
CDC on HIV/AIDS: www.cdc.gov/hiv/
Books For Further Reading:
Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History. Penguin Books, 2005. 546 pages.
Description: This book chronicles the 1918 influenza pandemic and the efforts of Americas top physicians to find the cause, control the spread and find a cure.
Click here to order.
Kelly, John. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time. Harper Perennial, 2006. 400 pages.
Description: John Kelly provides the historical context for one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. He describes the plague itself and how it was transmitted, how it traveled though Europe and the effects of the disease on society and governments.
Click here to order.
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