How Every Pandemic In Human History Has Been Exactly The Same, On A Human Level

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From the Black Plague to the flu of 1918, global pandemics have been affecting the vast population Earth for thousands of years. This kind of global threat is a byproduct of the proliferation of transportation between countries by human beings—the easier we travel, the worse things get. It's not just the catalyst for pandemics that's remained the same since pandemics were striking, however; it's the way people have handled these population-cutting illnesses throughout time. Obviously, we haven't always had social media to let our friends and neighbors know how we're doing or a global news network to tell us how to act during a time of crisis, but the concepts of quarantine, social distancing, and personal hygiene have always been at the forefront of a pandemic.

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Plague Ships

The number-one way infectious diseases spread across a town, country, or the entire world is travel. One person gets it, and then they infect someone they know, and then they split up and infect more people. It's the way epidemics have happened forever, but international travel means people across the world can be afflicted with the same disease. Suddenly, you've got a pandemic.

In 1348, one of the worst pandemics to hit the planet, the bubonic plague, occurred when a ship landed in England's Southampton port carrying passengers who had been ravaged by the disease. It spread through the country and wiped out its population by the thousands.