31st March 2020
Everyone in this world has been affected by this pandemic
(COVID-19) one way or the other. During this pandemic, I’d like to share some
knowledge with my readers regarding the future of these type of pandemics, so
we are all well aware of what lies ahead and these things not come to us as a
complete surprise/shock.
As of now (31/03/2020), Coronavirus has affected almost
7,80,000 people in about 199 countries and territories around the world with a
total of 37,500 confirmed deaths, roughly about 50,000 cases are reported
daily.
(Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/)
The above is surely devastating. Economic upheaval
created by Corona pandemic is a whole new story, but that is not our topic
today. What lies ahead is what we want to know.
Biological Warfare (BW) Has A History
Although bio weaponry has been used since ages to
devastate the enemy and for other ulterior motives, let’s start from world war
one.
The Geneva Protocol — Germany
In 1925, 108 nations signed the world’s first official
agreement which prohibited the use of biological and chemical weaponry. This
agreement was drafted after the heavy use of biological agents such as anthrax,
glanders, cholera and wheat fungus by the German army, targeted towards the
Russians and the French.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Protocol)
Japanese Bio-Terrorism - Japan
Cholera and Typhus were used as bio-weapons against the
Chinese during world war 2, about 1000 wells were deliberately infected to
defeat the enemy and study the outbreak.
(Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326439/)
Punji Sticks - Vietnam
Feces coated punji sticks were used by Vietnamese
guerrilla groups to defeat the enemy forces, the idea was to infect the enemy
with poisonous toxins if the bruise caused by the sharp-pointed sticks was not
enough to kill enemy combatant.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punji_stick)
Rajnesshee Bioterrorism - US
Salmonella was deliberately used in Wascon County
restaurants by followers of Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh, a.k.a Osho, to accomplish
political agenda.
Wikipedia, “The incident was the first and is the
single largest bioterrorist attack
in United States history.”
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rajneeshee_bioterror_attack)
Small Pox - UK
During the Indian and French war, British top brass
ordered the use of smallpox as a weapon against the French and the Americans.
Numerous accounts of smallpox being used as a biological weapon have already
been penned down in recent history, so let’s move forward.
Bubonic Plague (Black Death) - Japan
Bombs full of plague-infected fleas were dropped on
Ningbo (China) by the Japanese air force, 400,000 people is assumed to have
died by this onslaught, the number is not confirmed, after-effects of this
barbarism continued uptill 1947.
The Mongols used plague-infected dead bodies to infect
the enemy and occupy Caffa (modern Feodosia), this resulted in fleeing of the
soldiers to different parts of Europe, which ultimately resulted in the death
of almost half of the European and Chinese population and the spread of plague
all across the globe.
Secret Anthrax
There are well-documented evidences of the use of
Anthrax. Anthrax has occasionally been used by individuals, groups and
organizations for ulterior motives, as they were used covertly, exclusively, a
single country cannot be blamed.
Conclusion
From above it is clearly evident that nations have used
chemical and biological weapons in the past and will continue to do so. Many
treaties were signed in the past, but, unfortunately, bioterrorism seems to
have increased in recent times. Coming back to Coronavirus, the Americans have
already termed it as a “Chinese Virus” and the Chinese are blaming the American
CIA behind the spread of the virus. Concluding, I don’t think there’s an
end to all this and bioterrorism will increase and will definitely show its
ugly face in the coming years. If in fact, the developed world is
going to act underdeveloped then God bless humanity.
Superbugs
What’s a superbug? Simple, superbug is a bacteria/virus
that has over time mutated and reproduced and have resisted popular
antibiotics, such as penicillin.
Experts believe that by 2050 if nothing is done fast
enough, super-resistant viruses will wipe out 10 million people around the
world per year. Coronavirus, ‘till now has taken less than a 0.1 million, so
super-resistant viruses have a potential to turn into a super-pandemic in the
times to come. Some examples of super-resistant viruses are below.
Super - Salmonella typhi
Typhoid fever has been here since ages, and this
typical typhoid virus has been successful in surviving most of the modern world
antibiotics, infecting about 10 to 30 million cases a year through water and
food contamination.
Super - Gonorrhea
This is a sexually transmitted disease that was
treatable before, but newer versions of this bacteria seem to survive its
antibiotic, 48 confirmed cases of this new variant superbug have been reported
in the UK.
Super - Candida Auris
A type of super fungus which typically attacks patients
with low immunity causing fever and chills. This is so nerve-wracking that the
hospitals by state governments are advised to keep this a secret, to remove
this fungus, one hospital, went far enough to physically remove the tiles of
the hospital to stop the spread of the super-fungi.
Super - Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is a disease of lungs but can also affect
the kidney, brain, and spine.
It used to be treatable, but super resistant TB
bacteria seem to have evolved in recent times which is resistant to most
antibiotics resulting in increased risk of death in infected patients.
Conclusion
I think the problem of superbugs is not being taken
seriously by governments and biologist, steps taken today will ensure the
survival of humanity in the coming decades. Lastly, there’s no doubt in my mind
that superbugs will result in a super-pandemic in the near future, please,
prepare.
The Sleeping Plague
Bubonic plague has wreaked havoc for mankind, it sleeps
for a while and then often wakes up and haunts humans across the globe with
thousands of deaths each year, sleeps again and completes the vicious death
circle. Experts believe that the bubonic plague is not extinct, in fact, it
keeps coming back. The last reported case of bubonic plague symptoms were found
in 2013 which resulted in the death of a Kyrgyz boy. A large migration was
reported within Indian states when approximately 700 individuals were found to
be infected by the plague, 52 people died due to the infection in 1994.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague)
Sleeping In Permafrost (climate change)
Permafrost is simply a frozen land where the
temperature remains 0-degree Celsius or below. Scientist believes that the most
dangerous virus, (Y. Pestis) the bubonic plague, in recorded history, is
sleeping in the permafrost and increased risk of global warming (melting of
glaciers and frozen land) will, again, trigger the virus outbreak which will
eventually result in total destruction.
Sleeping In Human DNA
Scientists have recently discovered an infected skull
from Russia which was infected by the plague. Almost 100 Bronze Age skulls were
researched and scientists came to the conclusion that the virus most probably
spread through bodily fluids, contaminated food, and airborne droplets. DNA
from teeth of Bronze Age skulls showed the genes that can spread through humans
and maybe not necessarily just fleas.
(source: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/10/bronze-age-plague-wasnt-spread-fleas)
Sleeping In Rodents
Experts say that Y. Pestis (Black Death Virus) is
sleeping inside the rodents, especially the wild rodent. The plague can easily
reemerge when these rodents come in contact with the human population living in
slumps or crowded areas.
Conclusion
I think we all are sitting on another pandemic bomb
ready to explode, global warming, over-populated planet, superbugs, and BW
(biological) warfare are all recipes for another mega pandemic. If nations
concentrate on developing antibiotics rather than developing deadly weapons,
only that assures clean, disease free, safe earth in the future.
Kindly visit my blog regularly to get more interesting posts like this
Author, Bfazal