Disease Emergence: How Did Black Death, COVID 19, and HIV Emerge?

I’ll use the COVID 19 global pandemic as an example since it put the world on hold, a disease that future generations will have to read about in health and history textbooks. During the pandemic, most people on various social media channels asked similar questions. “How did this virus come about?” “Was it created?” Or “Why was it even created in the first place?” I’ll take my stance on the final question since I was astounded at how quickly it affected the entire world.

Now, in order to fully comprehend the genesis of diseases or viruses, it is necessary to understand that diseases do not appear out of nowhere; rather, they originate as a result of various factors changing and interacting with one another. This can include how people live, how they move around, what kind of species they interact with, and how they impact the environment.

Emergence of Disease From The Origin

If every sickness that has ever threatened humankind’s existence were to be projected onto a massive screen for us to look at, you would discover that the vast majority of these fatal diseases have their origins in animals. Viruses cohabit with hosts such as bats, birds, rodents, primates, and livestock, among others, without harming them. However, things become very different when these viruses spread to people and result in communicable illnesses.

You might be questioning why that is. Why are humans unable to fight off certain diseases while animals can? It’s easy. Since the animals’ immune systems are suited to withstand viruses, it’s possible that the viruses won’t show any symptoms at all. After all, they are wild animals, exposed to a wide variety of viruses, which they have learned to tolerate and survive without the need for medical assistance. However, when these viruses infect humans, our immune systems might not be ready to fight them effectively, which could result in illness or disease.

Zoonotic transmission is the term used to describe the spread of viruses from animals to people. There are several ways that this can occur, including direct contact with diseased animals, ingestion of contaminated food or drink, and exposure to animal habitats.

The New Disease: Shifting Circumstances

We occasionally come across “novel” diseases, which are illnesses that are unfamiliar to us and may develop as a result of interactions with novel pathogens or environmental changes.

Take the coronavirus situation as an example. Wuhan, China’s wet market was linked to the first coronavirus infection. Every moment of the day, a wide range of wildlife from all over the world, including pigs, snakes, and porcupines, could be seen in this wet market being sold either dead or alive to different customers.

These animals from various regions, along with their different viruses, are stacked on top of each other in this massive moist market, with thousands of people coming in and out every day, creating an ideal environment for these known and unknown viruses to mutate and cross species barriers, allowing them to jump from one animal to another and from one person to another. In this market, viruses are exchanged on a daily basis, just as money is. It’s like a never-ending cycle. This has also been true for history’s most terrible pandemics, such as black death, HIV, and AIDS.

What Gives Rise To A Pandemic?

An epidemic is usually the first to emerge when there is an outbreak, which means that a large number of people in a certain area have contracted the same disease as a result of the outbreak.

A pandemic occurs when a disease spreads to multiple areas of the world, affecting millions of people in various places. This could be due to variables such as trade routes (where goods are bought and sold between locations) and poor sanitation (not keeping things clean), which cause the illness to spread more quickly.

Conclusion

Diseases have always existed, and they affect people everywhere. In order to remain healthy, we must continue to study diseases and their transmission. This will help us figure out how to prevent them from having a significant influence. Working together and remaining aware allows us to stay healthy while also keeping others safe.