[00:01.51]In the 1330's,the bubonic plague returned,
[00:05.22]this time in Asia.
[00:06.72]It would spread rapidly and come to be known
[00:08.90]as"The Black Death".
[00:10.86]The conditions in much of Asia and Europe-
[00:14.10]war,climate change,a lack of adequate food,
[00:17.52]crowded cities and a lack
[00:19.05]of basic health routines-
[00:20.99]provided the perfect conditions
[00:22.92]for the disease to spread worldwide.
[00:25.64]In highly populated areas all over Europe,
[00:28.04]Asia,Africa and the Middle East,
[00:30.61]one half to one third of the population
[00:33.35]was lost to the Black Death.
[00:35.10]Less populated areas,mostly in northern Europe,
[00:38.34]were less severely affected.
[00:40.68]Another epidemic that started
[00:42.26]and spread in similar conditions
[00:44.26]was the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918
[00:47.62](also called the Spanish Flu).
[00:49.86]It struck near the end of the first World War
[00:52.36]and continued after the war was finished.
[00:55.06]Having killed between 25 and 50 nmillion people
[00:58.60]in 18 months,it is believed tobe the most
[01:00.99]acute worldwide epidemic in history.
[01:04.50]More people died of the flu than died
[01:06.66]in the war.
[01:07.71]Yet,somehow,it has been forgotten by history.
[01:11.29]One epidemic that we haven't forgotten yet
[01:13.83]is the SARS epidemic of 2002/2003.
[01:18.97]It began with an abnormal lung disease
[01:20.89]in Guangdong Province
[01:22.63]and spread worldwide after
[01:24.31]Dr Liu Jianjun to Hong Kong.
[01:26.15] |