As human civilization progressed, more and more diseases appeared. The fact that a large number of people live together and near animals while the health and nutritional needs are not met is the cause of the disease which recurs. Along with this, as more and more channels of communication, commerce and exchange are opened up, it also means that the route of disease infection is spreading more and more, creating the world’s first epidemic.
However, after experiencing pandemics, people have learned to limit the spread and prevent epidemics through the introduction of measures such as quarantine, public health research or vaccine detection. This is how the 5 most terrible pandemics in human history ended.
Justinian Plague – There’s no one left to die
Three of the deadliest pandemics on record are caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis, or the bacteria that causes the plague. People infected with bacteria that cause disease in rodents such as rabbits, rats, … via the intermediate host are infected fleas.
Justinian’s plague likely originated in Egypt in AD 541 and then spread to other continents via trade ships with rats carrying infected fleas. When this plague reached the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, it caused an estimated 300,000 deaths in its first year.
The Justinian pandemic is also considered the first pandemic on record in human history when it spreads across Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Arab world.
“People really don’t know what to do with this outbreak except to stay away from the sick,” said Thomas Mockaitis, historian at DePaul University.
Justinian’s plague did not end until it caused an estimated 30 to 50 million deaths, equivalent to half of the world’s population at that time.
Black Death – The Introduction of Quarantine
The plague is a nightmare in human history but it is not really over when, 800 years later, this epidemic returned and made Europe “twist” in the years of “black plague” 1347 with 200 million deaths in just 4 years.
However, the “black plague” also marks the first time that a quarantine has been put in place to prevent epidemics.
At that time, people still didn’t have a scientific understanding of the spread of the disease, but they did know that there were some things they could do to limit it. That’s why forward-thinking officials in the port city of Ragusa decided to quarantine the newly arrived sailors until they can prove they weren’t sick.
First, sailors would stay on board their ships for 30 days, as provided for in a rule called “tretino”. Then the authorities decided to increase the quarantine period to 40 days in a new law called “quarantino”, which originated from the word “quarantine” in English and gradually became the name of an epidemic prevention measure.
“It was really effective” in stopping the spread and ending the disease, historian Mockaitis said.
London pandemic – Quarantine infected people
London never had a “break” before the plague attacks after the Black Death. The plague reappears here every 20 years from 1348 to 1665 with 40 outbreaks in 300 years. Every time a new plague epidemic strikes, 20% of men, women and children living in the British capital die from this terrible epidemic.
In the early 1500s, Britain passed the first law requiring the segregation and quarantine of sick people. Affected families will be oiled with a grass ball suspended from an outdoor stick. If someone has a loved one with the plague, that person will need to bring a white stick to public places. The plague of 1665 was the last but also one of the worst epidemics of centuries, killing 100,000 Londoners in just seven months.
All recreational activities in public places are strictly prohibited and patients are required to stay indoors to prevent the spread of disease. Even though it was considered barbaric to “imprison” the sick at home and bury the bodies in mass graves, it was the only way at the time to kill the last epidemic.
Smallpox – Discover vaccines
Smallpox is an epidemic that has spread throughout Europe, Asia and Arab countries for decades, becoming an obsession in human history. For every 10 people with smallpox, 3 die while the rest are dense with scars.
Indigenous people in Mexico and the United States lack natural immunity to smallpox, and the virus has killed tens of millions of people there.
“There has been no demographic destruction in human history as horrific as what happened in the Americas when 90-95% of indigenous peoples were wiped out in a century,” historian Mockaitis said . 11 million before the epidemic to 1 million “.
Centuries later, smallpox became the first viral pandemic to end thanks to the discovery of a vaccine. At the end of the 18th century, an English physician named Edward Jenner laid the foundation for the use of vaccines to prevent human disease. In 1796, Jenner conducted an experiment by taking fluid from cowpea spots on a cowherd’s arm and transplanting it into the arm of a healthy 9-year-old boy – his gardener’s son. Jenner then injected the boy with a substance containing smallpox, but the boy did not get sick.
Thanks to Edward Jenner’s discovery, almost 2 centuries later, in 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox completely wiped out of the Earth.
Cholera – Victory for public health research
From the beginning to the middle of the 19th century, cholera raged across England and killed tens of thousands of people. The theory of the time explained that this plague was caused by an evil spirit called “miasma”. However, a British doctor named John Snow questioned the fact that this mysterious disease could be linked to London’s water supply when the disease killed victims in just a few days with early symptoms.
Dr Snow acted as a “science sleuth” when he studied the medical records of patients in hospitals and examined reports from the morgue to track the exact locations of the outbreak. He created a 10-day map of cholera deaths and discovered an epidemic of 500 deaths surrounding a water pump on Broad Street – a well-known well in the city. People often come to drink water.
“As soon as I took a close look at the situation and the surge in cholera cases, I questioned some of the contaminated water sources on Broad Street,” Snow wrote.
With relentless effort, Dr Snow persuaded local authorities to move the water pump to Broad Street and, miraculously, cases were reduced.
Snow’s actions don’t end cholera overnight, but these efforts have helped people around the world pay more attention to urban sanitation and protect water from contamination.
