The significance of emerging and re-emerging diseases in the modern world is their unexpected appearance and resistance to existing medical practices. For example, the most recent global scare, the 2014 Ebola outbreak, was identified as early as 1976 but not considered a threat. The 2014 strain spread at an astonishing speed without being contained, and according to the movie “Spillover”, nearly jumped to a global pandemic when it reached the populous city of Lagos. The nurse who refused to release an infected ambassador planning an international trip is now hailed as a national hero, and only recently has a vaccine for the disease been developed and administered.

Aside from spreading astonishingly fast between humans via physical contact or bodily fluids, Ebola is a zoonotic disease. That means it was originally found in animals and continues to be harbored and spread by certain animal species. In the case of Ebola, its animal reservoir is a bat, and human contact with bats and/or bat droppings, along with possibly infected bushmeat, creates a risk of infection. One of the main dangers of zoonotic diseases is that animals cannot be educated or contained (as people can be) to prevent disease spread. Therefore, aside from analyzing and monitoring animal diseases around the world, zoonotic diseases cannot be prevented or controlled until their transmission to humans.

Modern human habits and cultural practices also contribute to the occurrence of major outbreaks. Not only is modern development encroaching more and more on wild lands, creating more human contact with potential zoonotic diseases (as detailed in the film “Spillover” and class discussion), but modern cities provide closer human interaction than ever before in history. As described in the “Influenza 1918” film, large cities in the US such as Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York served as fuel for the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak. Furthermore, a November 2018 Washington Post article by Erin Blakemore describes the modern “outbreak culture” as being one of “denial, blame, and mistrust”. In other words, people are often slow to recognize that an outbreak is occurring and trust each other enough to work together to stop it. An example of this “outbreak culture” is provided in a May 2019 National Geographic article entitled “Life amid an Ebola outbreak: Combating mistrust—and saving lives” by Rachel Jones. She describes the struggles of foreign doctors in Africa to gain the trust and cooperation of locals in treatment and prevention of Ebola. Some simply refuse treatment, while others attack medical centers and try to prevent collection of samples for medical research.

Eliminating such mistrust and fear is one way for humans to become prepared for the next pandemic. Particularly in isolated areas where zoonotic diseases are more likely to occur and spread without notice, people need to be aware of the dangers and means of preventing disease. One example of current efforts in this area is the work of Ebola survivor Mulyanza Vithya Huguette (as described in the aforementioned National Geographic article), who travels to share and educate African women about the Ebola virus. Picture of this (photo 6/18) found at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/05/ebola-democratic-republic-congo/ . Additionally, advancements in research and technology, such as the recently developed Ebola vaccines, will be necessary to fight future outbreaks.

HR: References as mentioned in text, class discussion, Microsoft Word for spelling/grammar check