These situations and disease threats are defining moments in history, a nodel point where civilisation takes another path.

One of the consequences of the plague, was the advent of new technologies to overcome the reduction in man power of dramatically reduced populations.
The Catholic Church lost its tight hold on populations in Europe, and Protestantism was born.

It's as well to remember too, humans exist in plague proportions, and as Mother Nature will, a favourite method of hers is to reduce numbers by starvation, disease and war.

And on it all goes, panic not!

Dan

"There is nothing new about the link between human movement and the spread of infectious disease".

It's a pity that our stupid, mass-immigration crazed politicians don't know it; they just blithely continue to wreck the the advantages and safety that being an island used to give us. Immigrants from Third World countries; universities meant to educate Australians turned into money-making degree factories for Chinese who don't have enough English to obtain qualifications honestly; tourism, which has replaced the real earners of manufacturing, mining and agriculture - but which immediately drops off when pandemics occur.

We should be putting up the shutters: allowing disease to do what comes naturally in over-populated areas.

They do and like that UK man with no symptoms can infect at least 11 others before he himself is tested positive if non-symptomatic. And repeated around the world and transferred by those who know beyond question they themselves will never ever become infected or infectious! A problem compounded by mendacious non-vacciners.

That said, I've heard that the Thailand medicos seem to be having reasonable success, treating novel contravirus with HIV/aids antivirals? And why wouldn't they, after all a virus is a virus and all efficacious antivirals ought to be trailed if only as an interim treatment to save lives.

On the subject of HIV/aids, have heard that some research into a possible cure, would seem to be successful as a combination of Leukemia Chemo and rheumatoid arthritis treatment used in combination in relatively healthy patients, may have resulted in remission? Others have had to have their T cell count artificially increased as a preliminary step?

But hey that would decimate big pharma's profit curve from the billions it makes treating symptoms only, even as the virus mutates into untreatable forms!

Our problems are here and in the intellectual arrogance of our own medical fraternity/establishment that e.g. describes miracle cancer cure, alpha particle isotope, bismuth 213 as an alternative or complementary medicine, whereas for the rest of the western world it is mainstream medicine that may threaten the profit curve of big pharma? The real problem?


In conclusion, I reiterate my earlier comment on the current oxygen levels and the impact of that as a hugely diminished percentage of the atmosphere, as a major contributing factor!?

The real invisible enemies are professional intransigence, intellectual arrogance compounded by and big pharma and its almost Godlike influence in Australian medicine? Look at the case against statins in a double-blind UK study for apparent evidence?
Alan B.

We can only but hope that, like most things made in China, it won`t last for too long.........

Are you suggesting ttbn that we isolate ourselves from the rest of the world on a normal everyday basis? I would say it is impossible to do that unless you want to ultimately wind up like the Amish in the USA.

It is shame that you refer to the politicians as stupid, can you imagine what it would be like if we stopped communication with the rest of the world. It’s not just third world country immigration that carry disease and I don’t think you would regard the folk on the coronavirus cruise ships as being third world. All the students that come from China are one of our biggest exports as are all the people in the travel Industry. You are being too simplistic in your criticism as well as using pejorative language. I think you should think about what you say, more thoroughly.

The author concludes with a salient line.

"The microbial world possesses the ability to adapt and change in response to anything we might level at it"

He is a human geographer, who seesm to have spent some time looking at the geography of disease. The article is a simple reminder of several things:

1. we have limited knowledge of what is out there now.
2. what is out there can adapt faster than we can develop counter measures
3. we treat our freedom of movement between totally different and incompatable biogeographical zones as a right. Its not. Its a freedom that needs protection.

In the past, few travelled more than a 100 km from home. Now you can span the world in 48hours. No wonder we are caught out. Its time our politicians realised the dangers that come from free movement and globalization.

Previous mass immigration movements used quarantine stations Think Ellis Island, the home of the "Statue of Liberty" and vetting checks. Now its a "come on down you all".

Some years ago a caught adult hooping cough from my partner who caught it from working in an international university student unit. It was an horrific 3 weeks, where 2-3 times a day I thought I was going to choke to death.... (no wonder children have such trauma from it). The students invariably came from China and the impact was widespread. Personally, we learnt the exposure from that exposure, but since then, that university has just sucked more and more students, with minimal protections. Money is so much more important.

Our ancestors were smarter than us, without multiple university degrees on their CVs!