By Barbara McAlister
Word of the Day: pandemic
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s video of what makes the COVID-19 pandemic so contagious has, ironically, gone viral. The word “pandemic” is
straightforward: It’s from the Greek “pan.” for all, and “demos,” for people. It first appeared around the 1600s, but pandemics have been around since humans became civilized, built cities, expanded trade and waged wars. As populations moved throughout empires, they carried disease with them which often changed the course of history.
Justinian’s Plague in 541 A.D. spread throug Palestine, the Byzantine Empire and eventually the Mediterranean, effectively terminating Emperor Justinian’s plans to reunite the Roman Empire. It also probably helped spread Christianity to a population looking for answers. It was the first significant appearance of the bubonic plague, possibly the most destructive pandemic in human history. The plague has recurred several times over the centuries — in 1347 as The Black Death, which killed 200 million Europeans in four years; in 1665 as the Great Plague of London, which killed 20 percent of London’s population; and in 1855 it swept through China, India and Hong Kong, killing 15 million.
As early as the 1500s, England imposed laws to isolate the sick in an attempt to stop the plague’s spread. Victims were forcibly shut in their homes and were required to hang a bale of hay on a pole outside to warn others. Members of an infected household had to carry a white pole when out in public. Public entertainment was banned. Much like today, it caused massive economic hardship, uncertainty and fear. As cruel as it seemed to shut the sick in their homes and bury the dead in mass graves, it was possibly the only way to stop the last great outbreak.
Today we have a better understanding of how disease is spread. Pandemics have ravaged populations and changed the course of history but have also sparked progress to improve lives. Better scientific understanding has led to upgrades in sanitation systems, cleaner water, quarantine procedures and eventually vaccines.
