Showing posts with label Black Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Death. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Tracking Swine Flu's Global Reach, Understanding Pandemics

The following map from New York Times shows of the areas where the contamination from the Piggy Flu has been accounted for so far.

The epicenter being in Mexico.
The map below reveals of the global reach.


So far only 7 countries have reported cases of the flu's infestation.

According to the
New York Times, ``Israel confirmed its first two cases of swine flu, which is now in at least seven countries. Ten others including China and Russia, which were set to quarantine passengers suspected of having the flu, are investigating possible cases."


Despite the global reach, this hasn't been pronounced yet as a full blown pandemic.

Anyway to give you an idea how pandemics work, the map below from Leonardo Monasterio gives a great perspective of the spread of the Bubonic plague otherwise known as the Black Death, one of the deadliest in history.

The reported casualties-75 million people worldwide. Europe suffered most having lost 30-60% of its population.

The difference in the manner of
contamination then and today is that the former has been contiguous whereas today has seen a wider dispersion.

Although I don't think we are going to get anywhere near this given the positive response of the flu to present medication. We just hope that this won't mutate into a drug resistant strain.

Besides, the alertness and swift response gained from recent experiences (e.g.
SARS and the Bird Flu or Avian influenza) aside
from the capability of technology to adopt should make us more prepared to deal with this pestilence.