Ryan Floyd
Andrews
World History
April 15, 2020
Pandemic
Since the middle ages there have been more than a dozen notable pandemics the world has endured. The first pandemic according to data compiled from the world bank was the Bubonic Plague or The Black Death. The definition of pandemic is “(of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world” (What is a..). Based on this definition it is safe to say that the given disease may have an impact on a smaller part of the world or the globe as a whole to be considered a pandemic. However, I would not classify the spread of a disease over a smaller population a pandemic. Today we are experiencing a pandemic of our own, COVID-19. Times are tough on everyone for several different reasons.
A pandemic can be classified as a wide spread of a new disease. The word pandemic comes from the Greek pandemos meaning “pertaining to all people.” The Greek word pan means “all” and the Greek word demos means “people” (Brazier, Yvette). I see many people using the argument today that we experience pandemics every day with hundreds or thousands of people dying a year from the flu, or other illnesses. I do not agree with this statement. Viruses that cause pandemics are viruses that human beings have no immunity to yet, they are typically animal generated influenza viruses. Many times when we are hit with a pandemic it sweeps over populations faster than medical care workers can work to provide proper treatment or prevent the spread of the disease.We are experiencing this first hand today with the COVID-19 virus However pandemics can be caused by more than one reason. They can be caused by bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics, which is something we heavily rely on today. Or they can come to be because of a new strain of virus that is easily transmissible between humans. Sometimes, like in the case of the Black Death, they are just caused by a virus's ability to spread alarmingly fast with no knowledge of treatment.
In the 1300’s The Black Death killed 30-50% of Europeans (Black Death). The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. The ships that arrived were completely infected with the disease, and they were sent away. However, it was not enough to prevent the spread of the Black Death. After the ships arrived over 20 million people died over the course of five years. The Black Death wiped out nearly one third of the continent's population. They eventually got rid of the plague by practicing social distancing and becoming more sanity. Doctors would refuse to see people, shops were shut down, people stayed home. Today there are still 1-3,000 cases of this plague a year. Medicine and technology have moved forward leaps and bounds. Diseases that wiped out countries hundred of years ago are now very treatable. For example, throughout history we have had several pandemics due to Influenza which is now considered a yearly cold. The most severe took place in 1918. After it was all said and done, it killed about 500 million people, or one third of the WORLD'S population (1918 Pandemic). Again, it was a disease that humans had not been exposed to at that point, making it spread like wildfire.
Today we are experiencing a new pandemic, COVID-19. Personally, I have only ever thought about the word pandemic when learning about past ones in History. Even then it was just another history lesson, I never really understood what that meant until now. What I think shocks me the most is reading about how people practiced social distancing, shut down schools, stores and more back then just like we are. What scares me is that those pandemics still often lasted several years. I am optimistic that with the medical technology we have today in 2020 that it will not last that long, but one can only hope. My little brother is a Type 1 Diabetic. My family and I are being extremely cautious and following the orders and advice of the government. If he were to get sick it would be very unlikely he would make it. I read on a news site a couple weeks back that a large percentage of the deaths in Italy were people who also had diabetes.
I am from a small town in Idaho, there is no other town or city within 45 miles of us and we still have cases. That is what makes this so real to me. Going out to buy eggs or milk and seeing everyone wearing masks, gloves or whatever else is saddening. What is the most frustrating to me however is the media. At my age everyone uses social media and not a lot of people really watch the news. There are so many sides and opinions during all of this when really there should only be one, to stay home and help each and every one of us around the globe get through this as efficiently as possible with as little lives lost as possible. They say we should learn from history but when I think about it, past pandemics aren’t talked about. I had no idea this would turn out this way. As a world that has been through this several times and lost millions of lives it seems like we would have a better plan of action and more guidance from our leaders. I think it is important that everyone start taking this seriously, I have been fortunate enough to not lose anyone I know. I pray for those who have.
Works Cited
Brazier, Yvette. “Pandemics: Past, Present, and Future.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon
International, 22 May 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148945
History.com Editors. “Black Death.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Sept. 2010,
What Is a Pandemic and How Many Has the World Experienced?,
“1918 Pandemic (H1N1 Virus).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Mar. 2019,
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