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https://thoughtsandquestions108.blogspot.com - It’s 24th April, and Britain is currently in the midst of a deadly coronavirus disease spread, a virus which has so far killed almost 20,000 Brits. The outbreak was declared a pandemic by WHO (The World Health Organization) on 11th March this year, when it officially became a serious worldwide crisis, and Britain subsequently entered lockdown on 23rd March, quarantine measures we still aren’t yet able to lift.Scary, isn’t it? Or perhaps not. Depends on where you’re coming from (and I say that with some irony). It’s how the media would have the news transmitted around the country, and if you’re coming from a position of ignorance on the matter, then yes, the above caption is scary. But if you’re informed of the number and various types of epidemics, and indeed pandemics, which have spread through Britain over the centuries, how we dealt with them as a nation, how they were caused, and ultimately how their spread came to an inevitable dead end, then it won’t be all that scary to accept what’s actually going on here. From an historical perspective, this viral spread as a matter of fact is not unusual, and as a nation we’ve gone through much worse in terms of epidemics, and ultimately pulled through with valiant resilience. So, let’s demystify a lot of the scaremongering that’s going on at the moment, and put all of this into context.What is the virus, what is the disease, and where does it come from?For those who don’t already know, coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold, to MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). COVID-19 (our current COronaVIrus Disease, having begun its outbreak in December 2019) is the official name of the disease. It’s caused by a virus, which, in this case, is a new type of SARS, and so the virus itself has been named SARS-CoV-2, since it’s the second type of SARS coronavirus discovered in a human host to date.The first SARS outbreak took place between November 2002 and May 2004, its first case being identified in Guangdong, China, spreading mainly through China and Hong Kong, and killing approximately 774 people worldwide (none of which, incidentally, were Brits). So, in terms of deadliness, SARS-CoV-2 is obviously a lot worse than its predecessor almost sixteen years ago, having claimed over 193,000 lives already worldwide.Both viruses do share, however, zoonotic origins. In late 2017, Chinese scientists traced SARS-CoV-1 through the intermediary of civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Yunnan, China. Similarly, the genetics of SARS-CoV-2 mirror very closely coronaviruses found in bats.Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, located in Wuhan, China, is understood to be a possible point of origin for SARS-CoV-2. On New Years Eve 2019, WHO were notified of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan. However, laboratories confirmed on 2nd January that the initial 41 people hospitalized for this were not suffering from pneumonia, but were instead infected with SARS-CoV-2, and two-thirds of these people were exposed to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. After sanitary procedures and disinfection took place in the market following its closure, 33 out of 585 environmental samples obtained indicated evidence of COVID-19,31 of which came from the area of the market where wildlife was particularly prevalent. Prior to its closure, Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market sold many animal food items aside from seafood, including pangolins.Studies have suggested that pangolins may have been the intermediate host of the virus, originating from bats, since both animals share the same common habitat of trees in warm climates, as well as both having species residing in China. In fact, China has one of the richest bat faunas in the Palaearctic. So, yes – although there is currently some debate as to whether the virus did indeed originate from the market (since a portion of the initial 41 victims had no known association with the market), the general consensus that COVID-19 originated from bats is probably likely to be correct.Similarities and differences between both viruses.Both SARS viruses cause flu-like symptoms, but they do differ slightly in their nature. SARS-CoV-1 could produce fever, muscle pain, fatigue, coughing and a sore throat, though the only symptom common among all patients of the virus was a fever with a temperature above 38 °C (100 °F). For the real victims of SARS-CoV-1, the virus would lead to shortness of breath, and pneumonia. The average incubation period for SARS-CoV-1 was four to six days, although on some rare occasions it could take as many as 14 days before symptoms began to show.Like its predecessor, SARS-CoV-2 causes a fever, a high temperature, and a new and continuous dry cough, as well as potentially fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle and joint pain and a sore throat (among other less common symptoms). Likewise, both diseases share the same transition method too, via respiratory droplets produced by coughing, sneezing or talking, and which thus travel through the air from one person to the next. Studies have found that an uncovered cough can cause droplets to travel up to 8.2 metres (27 feet). Of course, the disease can also be picked up by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth. These are all conditions shared by both SARS.What did we learn from SARS-CoV-1?SARS-CoV-1 caused significant social, political and economic disruptions in many countries, mainly China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and Singapore. It was the first global outbreak of the century, and the most recent to the current pandemic, and WHO played a key leadership role in combating the spread of this disease. In April 2006 (two years and five days since the last death from SARS-CoV-1 was reported), WHO published a book entitled Sars: How a global epidemic was stopped. In its final chapter, Brian Doberstyn, who in 2003 was the director of the Division for Combating Communicable Disease in WPRO (WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office), outlined several important and instructive lessons that we learned from the crisis, which he believes should ensure good, efficient and effective control of future disease outbreaks. I’ll emphasise what are perhaps the three most important and influential of those lessons-to-learn laid out by Doberstyn:“Animal husbandry and marketing practices seriously affect human health”.As stated previously, both SARS outbreaks most probably originated from bats and thus both share zoonotic origins. China is undoubtedly one of the most unhygienic nations on the planet today, and its practices and methods in preparing and selling animal products to the public are unquestionably unsettling. Health authorities closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market on New Year’s Day for examinations, but it was reported that on 14th April, just six days since Wuhan’s lockdown was lifted, the market had reopened, along with several other wet markets in China. As unconscionable as this may be to take in at first, there are, however, some consolations to find solace in. Since 2003, during the first SARS outbreak, several Chinese scientists have been constantly calling for bans on wildlife trade; on 22nd January of this year a ban was placed on the sale of all wild animal products in Wuhan, and on 24thFebruary the Chinese government announced that the trade and consumption of wild animals would be banned throughout all of China. So let’s just hope this ban is taken seriously, particularly in those areas where correct hygiene precautions seem to often go amiss.“Transparency is the best policy”. Certain countries are perhaps guilty of having not started their lockdowns sooner with regards to the spread of COVID-19, and when you consider the economic and social ramifications a blanket-style lockdown would have (and has had) on those countries, this reluctance from leaders can perhaps be understandable to a degree. But as we’ve learned fromSARS-CoV-1, Doberstyn explains, “some of the affected countries did not acknowledge openly and squarely the presence of SARS, downplayed its extent, and attempted to prove that it was something else.” It boils down to prompt and accurate reporting (in these two cases, from China and WHO) of the full facts so that other countries can take preventive measures accordingly, and ultimately shorten the life span of the spread of the virus worldwide. The UK are now past this stage, of course, but this is certainly one lesson I’m sure we’ll all learn from for future epidemics.“Twenty-first century science played a relatively small role in controlling SARS; much older techniques continued to prove their value”. Scientific advancement is growing at an ever more rapid pace, but fundamentally we deal with epidemics in much the same way we did a hundred years ago: we stay in our homes to prevent the spread of the virus from one person to the next. Like with the first SARS outbreak, scientists and laboratories around the world have been working together to identify the cause of the virus, map its genome, and develop reliable diagnostic tests as well as a vaccine ideally sooner rather than later. But other, more fundamental strategies to defeat this epidemic are still grounded in history as being reliable and effective. Social distancing, self-isolation and effective social regulation of vital public services which remain functional, all play key roles in tackling the further spread of COVID-19.Britain has a surprisingly virulent history of epidemics.In fact, there is more than one ongoing epidemic Brits are dealing with at the moment. Classed by WHO as a global epidemic, though considered a pandemic by many others, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus which has so far been responsible for over 32 million deaths worldwide. Believed to have originated in southern Cameroon in wild chimpanzees, the virus, of course, causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), which was first clinically observed in a human in 1981 in the USA. The virus is typically transmitted from one person to the next via sexual intercourse. This means, incidentally, that the infection rate of AIDS, ironically enough, will have surely dropped significantly over the past few months, thanks to the many lockdowns of this current pandemic prohibiting people from ‘making new friendships’ with others, thus temporarily halting the sexually transmitted spread of the disease.MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) is another type of coronavirus (a newly emerged betacoronavirus, in fact) which, since 2012, has claimed almost 1,000 deaths worldwide. Only three of these have been Brits. Again of zoonotic origin, dromedary camels are the more likely culprit since they’re the major reservoir host for MERS-CoV. It’s believed that the virus originated, again, in bats, and that it was transmitted to camels sometime in the distant past.In 1937, Britain endured a typhoid fever outbreak in Croydon, South London, which lasted for nearly three months, during which 341 people were infected and 43 lives were lost. Its origin was found to be a polluted chalk water well in Addington, London, which supplied water to approximately a fifth of the population of Croydon.April 2009 saw the start of a pandemic, the most recent pandemic to COVID-19, Swine flu, which ultimately claimed the lives of 392 Brits, spanning a total of 16 months of spread. Scientists determined that this virus had originated in pigs, and was identified as a recombinant form of flu strains from birds and humans.In the Soho district of London, 1854, Broad Street (now called Broadwick Street) saw a severe cholera outbreak, claiming the lives of 616 Londoners. It was in the midst of the cholera pandemic happening worldwide, which spanned from 1846 to 1860. Physician John Snow determined at the time that, contrary to the common belief that the infection’s particles were airborne, germ-contaminated water was the source of cholera.There have been many plagues which have, well, plagued the world over time. But four stand out for Britain as the most deadly. The London Plague of 1563 saw 20,136 Brits die, before it returned again in 1592 to claim the lives of yet almost another 20,000 Londoners. 73 years later in 1665, Britain was hit by what has come to be known as The Great Plague. Lasting for approximately a year, around 100,000 lives perished because of it. The Black Death, also a plague, was the most fatal pandemic in human history, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351, and killing 75 million to 200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa. Usually transmitted through the bite of an infected rat flea, the plagues were all typically ended through implementation of quarantines. The uninfected would remain in their homes and only leave if necessary.Spanish flu (caused by the same virus, H1N1 influenza virus, which caused swine flu of 2009) was the most devastating global pandemic of the 20th Century, and the most deadly modern Britain has ever had to endure. Spanning for almost three years, from January 1918 to December 1920, there were a staggering 500 million confirmed cases worldwide. Data is murky with death tolls, but at least 50 million are believed to have died worldwide, with the possibility of the death toll being as high as 100 million. Tragically, the disease came in three waves, and devastated economies and societies all over the world, occurring amidst the Great War. A particularly unusual aspect of the Spanish flu was that it killed many previously healthy, young people, a group normally resistant to influenza viruses, including a number of World War I servicemen. In fact, more American soldiers died from Spanish flu than were killed in battle during the war.It is still unclear how the Spanish flu began, and its point of origin, but the spread stopped simply because those who were infected either died or developed immunity.So how bad is Britain’s current situation in contrast?The bad news is that, as of writing this, scientists currently believe that having the virus once does not mean you cannot necessarily get sick from it again. Furthermore, creating a vaccine for the disease would usually take anywhere between six to ten years, and although scientists are now already gearing up to begin testing vaccines on humans, it’s still not at all clear when one will be fully reliable and ready for mass public use.However, the great news is that Britain are currently in the process of moving away from our peak of COVID-19 infections, as we see the rate of cases begin to drop significantly.In deaths, Britain are now approaching the 20,000 mark. No one’s denying this isn’t upsetting, but in contrast this is nowhere near the Spanish flu’s figures. In no time at all, we will begin to see the UK’s death toll slow down too.The good that has and will come of this pandemic.Generally cleaner hands won’t be the only positive result of this pandemic. As many people are pointing out, staying separated from one another during this lockdown is bringing us closer to our family and friends, with the ever-wonderful aid of technology – Facetime, Skype, instant messaging services, etc etc. Having been forced to step away from the sometimes crazy rat-race of working life, many of us have started appreciating these things which are, in fact, most important. Love. Family. Togetherness. Health. If you’re living with someone else, and are thus housebound with them, this lockdown has effectively taught us to appreciate and tolerate one another better than ever before in the modern day. Before this pandemic, it was often claimed the modern world is getting crazier and crazier. Out of control, hectic, anxious and decidedly unsettled. At the moment, we’re forced to stop, and think. Reflect. And a new respect and appreciation for the simple things in life, I think, has swept over most of us in this humble wave of fresh air. Air, by the way, which is substantially less polluted these days, with some cities having seen nitrogen dioxide levels fall by up to 60% after just the first two weeks of lockdown.We’re learning to slow down, look after each other, and are probably developing a much more socialist mentality collectively. For those of us with increased free time on our hands, many of us are remembering what it feels like to listen to the silence in the world. The simple tweets of birds who are happy to just be. The river waters elegantly moving along with the gentle breeze whilst their surfaces glisten with the brilliant sunlight above.On a more practical and economical level, there will be generally an improved attitude toward global crisis management, even better on-demand services and delivery functionality and logistics, and a diminishing desire to spend money on needless consumer goods. Remote working will also almost certainly become more common once working life goes back to normal, since so many of us at the moment are working from home, learning how to adapt to the world of online meetings and training, and discipline ourselves better so to achieve the required levels of self-motivation in our in-home workplaces.It may be helpful to keep in mind that William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest literary hero to have ever lived, wrote several of his works during epidemics, including King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. So we might take a leaf out of The Bard’s book and write more during these trying times. Whatever you’re doing to keep yourself busy during this lockdown, though, make sure it keeps you calm, healthy and happy.