To the Far Corners of the Earth: The Spread of Disease

To the Far Corners of the Earth: The Spread of Disease

The age of exploration dawned between the 15^th century and early 17^th century. During this period, people moved across the previous political and geographical boundaries. This way, the spread of some of the planet’s deadliest and infectious diseases was fueled. Since then, unprecedented surge in the disease spread across geographical scale has been witnessed. Notably, the earliest case of diseases that spread from Asia to Europe includes influenza and bubonic plague.

In the modern times, the era of globalization takes hold— studies show that there is global interdependence now more than any other time in history.  The ease of travel, boosted by technological advancement in the transport sector, has encouraged a rise in the global trade. This has brought more individuals into contact with cross-species diseases. The delay in the detection of the diseases leads to their rapid spread, hence crippling the efforts of containment.

Infections to the Native Population

It should be noted that native population suffers heavy casualties due to the introduction of a foreign infectious disease. The severity of the disease on the natives is attributable to lack of antibodies to fight the disease. However, as the disease takes a toll on the native population, the survivors will breed a new generation of individual that can resist the ferocity of infections.

The boom in slave trade encouraged the spread of diseases to new locations such as Africa, Caribbean, and America. The integration of different societies led to increased human an animal concentration at a given location. For instance, voyages involved the movement of people and animals from one continent to the other. The poor hygiene and unprotected contact with infected persons and animals within the ship encouraged the spread of diseases (Ruiz et al., 49).

Reliance of Sorcery and Traditional Modes of Treatment

In the early centuries, people relied heavily on sorcery and witch doctor treatment. The lack of modern medicine and scientific treatment diminished the chances of survival of early victims of infectious diseases. The use of herbal medicine and meditation could not offer a remedy to the new diseases making it hard to control the spread.  The wrong notion that diseases were supernatural in early societies worsened the situation. This explains the fact that up to 90% of American natives were wiped out by infectious diseases.

Diseases such as Measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis were introduced in Europe years before the dawn of the age of exploration from trades with Africa and Asia. For years, Europeans developed antibodies to fight the foreign infections. The travel of Europeans like Christopher Columbus to new lands involved the movement of diseases as well. The role of microbes and germs in disease transmission was yet to be understood. Thus, the explorers were not attentive to hygienic procedures.

The Spread of Disease in the Modern World

Efficiency brought by the modern transport means encourages the global spread of infectious diseases. A classic example is the spread of West Nile Virus to the America. A recent research indicates that Mosquitoes that were riding on the airplane wheel crossed the Atlantic Ocean bearing the infectious disease. This led to the first reported cases of the disease at New York in the year 1999. The swiftness of air travel means that air travelers can contract diseases in the foreign land and infect other travelers and people at home on return, before showing the symptoms of the disease.  The PowerPoint Extract below shows the West Nile Virus containment level as at 2008 and 2010.

Image: 2008 West Nile Virus Containment

Image: 2010 West Nile Virus Containment

It is true that cures and vaccines for some deadly infectious diseases have been developed. However, the organisms of the some diseases evolve rapidly, making it harder to immunize the patients. Still, breakthroughs are yet to be ensured for some deadly diseases. The implication of this fact is that there is a sense of vulnerability to infectious diseases in the world today.

There is no worse threat to people in the modern time than the infectious disease evolution. Recently, it was discovered that the H1N1 virus (swine flu) is the latest strain that emanate from the Asian flu (the old form of the flu).

Specific Infectious Diseases

Plague

As a variant of a flea-borne fatal plaque disease, bubonic plague threatened to wipe out the human populations beginning the 14^th century. Fleas living on a black rat were the primary sources of the disease. By the 6^th century, the animals had moved to Europe from Asia, taking the epidemic infection with them.  Though the first case of the disease occurred in China, Europe soon reported new cases thought to have resulted from human contact during the Europe-Asian trade activities.

Measles

Measles is an airborne contagious disease. As evidenced in the PowerPoint graph above, the fact that an infected person shows no early symptoms of the disease infection makes it harder to execute preventive measures. While measles is an endemic disease, many people develop resistance to the infectious disease over time. Initial exposure of the disease to a new population has proved devastating. According to the PowerPoint Graph below, United States, the disease is no longer endemic, but the wave of immigrants from developing world represents the majority of the new cases.

Graph: Measles as an Endemic Disease in the United States

Small Pox

Image: Small Pox Global Spread

It takes an upwards of 17 days for smallpox symptoms to show, making it one of the deadliest diseases. Probably, the first case of the disease occurred in Egypt or India three millennia ago, as indicated in the PowerPoint image above. The disease was a common occurrence in both Europe and Asia during the 15^th century. It is believed that Christopher Columbus’ voyage crew introduced the disease to Hispaniola Island during his maiden voyage in the 15^th century. The deadly disease eliminated an upwards of 1 million natives. In fact, only 10, 000 natives survived the epidemic. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, British pioneers to the Americas introduced the disease, killing millions of the natives and Europeans.

Leprosy

Leprosy is classified as a chronic disease. Its incubation period of up to 5 years makes it one of the longest for an infectious disease.  The origin of Leprosy is India or Africa four millennia ago. Its prevalence in ancient civilizations such as Egypt and China led to transmissions to other parts of the world through the traveling and trading groups.  Romans and Spanish conquistadors introduced the disease to the rest of Europe, whereas the American slave traders spread the disease to Arab countries and the Americas.

Malaria

In the ancient times, malaria was common in global locations where it is now a rare occurrence. The disease emanated from Europe before taking a toll in Africa and North America.  Major strides have been made to ensure the containment of the deadly infectious disease caused by parasites that mosquitoes carry. However, in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the yearly mortality rates are high (Rodgers & Randolph, 1765).

Conclusion

As indicated in the PowerPoint graphics, most infectious diseases have been in existence for centuries. However, prior to the mass global movement and global trade and cultural exchanges, the mortality rates from the infectious diseases were relatively low. While efforts have been made to contain the old diseases, more needs to be done to curb the spread of the new diseases such as HIV and those that emanates from Radioactivity.

Works Cited

Rogers, David J., and Sarah E. Randolph. "The Global Spread of Malaria in a Future, Warmer World." Science 289.5485 (2000): 1763-1766.

Ruiz, Gregory M., et al. "Global Spread of Microorganisms by Ships." Nature408.6808 (2000):