Plague history

Devastation caused by pests has troubled both ancient and modem humans often changing the course of history. The bubonic plague in Europe and the great potato famine in Ireland were both caused by pests. In 1884, grasshoppers caused such a food shortage in the midwestem United States that a national disaster was declared. 

The section was perforated in several locations due to severe, localized wastage on internal surfaces (Fig. 6.23A and B). The cooling water had a history of low-pH excursions, with documented depressions to a pH below 5. The system also had been plagued with high sulfate-reducing bacteria counts. 

In many ways, both Canada and the United States continue to be involved in a unique experiment of co-operative management of serious environmental issues which plague a shared international resource. Despite the institutional complexity and the history of abuse that man s activities have wrought on the Great Lakes, the experiment to restore and protect them has had several successes typhoid and cholera were eradicated eutrophication problems are now largely under control and where adequate control programs for toxic chemicals have been implemented and enforced (e.g., mercury, DDT, PCBs), there have been associated declines in concentrations in the lakes. These successes have been due in no small way to the spirit of co-operation that has continued to exist between Canada and the United States and the unique institutional arrangements entered into by the two countries. 

From the demons of Mesopotamia to those plaguing our own late-20th-century civilization, this comprehensive printer covers every aspect of magic and the occult since earliest recorded time. Spanning 5,000 years of world history, it covers every major civilization and includes sections on alchemy, the Devil, witchcraft, the cabala, astrology, the tarot, the Rosicrucians, Nostradamus, and vampires"... 

A winter outbreak of typhus had been stopped for the first time in history. DDT also halted a flea-borne plague epidemic in West Africa a dengue fever epidemic on Saipan in the West Pacific and a typhus epidemic during the U.S. occupation of Japan in late 1945. When the Allies liberated German concentration and labor camps, their lice-laden inmates were dusted with DDT before they were evacuated. Typhus had been a major cause of death in the camps. The commander of Auschwitz, where three million... 

On the other hand. I m a bit more optimistic in the short run. Some researchers have even suggested that humans are at less risk for extinction now than at any other time in history, and that this risk decreases proportionately to advances made in technology. For example, aside from AIDS, it seems as if epidemics are less dangerous than in the days when the Europeans wiped out the South American Indians through disease and when Europe suffered from the Black Plague. 

Somatic therapies have had a long and at times dubious history in the treatment of mental disorders. Clearly, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has stood the test of time but has also been plagued by problems in terms of misuse, underuse, a complicated administration process, cognitive adverse effects, and a negative public image. Even so, ECT remains the most effective treatment for some of the most severely ill, medication-refractory, or medication-intolerant patients, often proving to be lifesaving (1). 

AIDS is potentially the most serious sociomedical situation facing us at present. In the words of the World Health Organisation We are for the first time in history at the beginning of a plague . 

Influenza has plagued humankind since the dawn of history and continues to affect a significant proportion of the population irrespective of age or previous infection history. These periodic epidemics that reinfect otherwise healthy people have devastated communities world wide. Some pandemics like the 1917-1919 Spanish flu were responsible for the death of tens of millions of people throughout the world. The origins, spread, and severity of influenza epidemics have been a puzzle that has only in the last two decades been adequately addressed. In early times it was thought that the disease was the evil influence (sic) of the stars, and other extraterrestial objects. At present it is generally accepted that the disease is of viral origin, spread by aerosols produced by infected animals, and the continual production of new strains of the virus results in reinfection of the disease (reviewed in Reference 1). 

Barry, John M. 2004. The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. New York Viking Press. 

Roe DA (1973) A Plague of Corn The Social History of Pellagra. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press. 

The diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax, likewise, is initially difficult. A history of skin contact with anthrax spores or potentially anthrax-contaminated animal products is helpful. In early stages, the skin lesion is very nonspecific, hut the later presence of a painless black eschar accompanied hy severe localized edema is essentially pathognomonic for the diagnosis. Other causes of painful lymphadenopathy such as staph, strep, plague, and tularemia may mimic cutaneous anthrax. Cutaneous anthrax lesions can also resemble the necrotic ulcerated lesions due to brown recluse spider bite. 

Plague is possibly the most feared infectious disease in the history of humankind. More than 200 million people have died from plague. In its most notorious manifestation, the so-called Black Death of the Middle Ages, plague was responsible for a pandemic that affected Europe between the 8th and 14th centuries, decimating nearly 40% of the population (McGovern Friedlander, 1997). 

Anthrax has plagued man and beast since early recorded history. Scholars have attributed several plagues in antiquity to anthrax. The Plague of Athens (430 27 BC) and two of the plagues of Egypt (the fifth - death of hvestock - and sixth plagues - boils), during the time of the Israehtes captivity... 

The relation of geniuses to the society in which they live is for various reasons, but at all times, plagued with serious, sometimes fatal conflicts. To illustrate this, we need only recall, from among the thousands of well-known examples, a classic one, that of the unfortunate lot of Mozart. He was born and raised in the still strictly aristocratic Austria, where a musician could make his living only in a court. The traditional spirit of the court did not differentiate between servants, for example, between a cook and a musician. Mozart, one of the most creative artists in the history of mankind, was obviously aware of the immortal value of his music and wanted to be an independent artist in a time when the aristocratic spirit in his native country made such effort impossible. Thus, a fatal conflict was created. He died impoverished, forsaken by all, at the early age of 35 in 1791. 

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