A look at the history of epidemics and pandemics that caused damaged to humankind Akshat Thonangi There are certain defining moments in our lifetime, where we as humans, tend to pause and reflect on what we've managed to accomplish up until now and think about prospects in-store or more importantly, ponder upon our existence or what life has meant to us. Some of the aforementioned 'moments' are the epidemics that mankind has stood witness to in the past. We did make tremendous scientific progress and, after its 3000-year existence, in 1980, the WHO declared Smallpox as eradicated. It is by far the only human disease to be declared so. "As for adults, those born before 1957 probably got the measles because there was no vaccine back then," as per the report General Recommendations on Immunization: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Environment & people
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April 2020
(ACIP)(1994) published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As compiled by Wordflix, the word 'Pandemic' has Greek origins; Pan-Demos, meaning "all people." It is so-called because it's a disease that affects everyone in a given region. WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom said, "We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus, this is the first of its kind. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time." (sic.) Now, back to where it all began, a version of the Bubonic Plague, the Black Death
(1346-1353), was the most devastating pandemic in human history. Mainly caused due to rodents, it swept through Asia, Europe, Africa and gradually to Scandinavia. Epidemiological statistics show that the tumour turmoil killed between 75-100 million people. Surprisingly, as something that went almost unreported by the media, the most recent death took place in 2019, in Mongolia. Legend has it that some citizens blamed the plague on Empress Theodora, saying "It was a punishment from God, for her sexual promiscuity," as per the research The Soldier's Life: Martial Virtues and
