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“The most basic definition is that a pandemic is a very large epidemic which affects a large number of people across a swath of time and space. Generally, pandemics cross national boundaries, and often modern pandemics cross oceanic boundaries. That’s the way I’ve defined it in my book. The book looks at how pandemics unfold over time and how societies deal with them, with chapters focusing on HIV, cholera, malaria, smallpox and tuberculosis. I show how breakthroughs in medicine changed our relationship to these diseases. I draw a distinction between acute pandemics, like cholera, and chronic ones, like tuberculosis. Cholera takes over people’s lives relatively quickly, whereas tuberculosis is a longstanding chronic pandemic; it’s never gone away.” Read more...
Christian W. McMillen, Historian
