the Epidemic which lasted more than 50 years. The second wave, killed one in three Europeans. The belief that it is necessary to dig up the corpse “patient zero”, and eat a piece of his internal organs to survive the pandemic…
Humanity is not defeated plague: every year on earth is fixed to 2.5 thousand cases of the disease. About the creation of biological weapons on the basis of the pathogen, breeding strains increased “lethal force”, and the evaluation of their use by terrorists – in the material MK”.
the Plague repeatedly made their devastating raids on various Nations and even entire continents. How he managed to cope with a dangerous infection, which our ancestors called “pestilence”, “the black death” and even “the chastening of the Lord”?
In the VI century the plague epidemic that lasted almost 50 years, claimed, as calculated on the basis of preserved information, more than 100 million lives in the middle East, in Egypt, in the European countries. A terrible disease has devastated many countries of Eurasia and eight centuries later in the 14th century.
In Europe at that time “the plague” descended from Eastern China to transit through Central Asia, the middle East. From there, the contagion spread into the Crimea, and then she opened the way to the countries of the “enlightened Europe”. Just over two years from 1346 to 1348-th – the victims of the epidemic in the Old world began almost 15 million people, that is died every fourth. And by 1352 the black death took about 25 millions of lives of Europeans.
In the same period, “the pestilence” and got to the Russian lands – trouble descended here from the shores of the Baltic sea. The first victims of the plague was the population of the Novgorod, Pskov and the principalities, and the infection went to walk further. How many of our ancestors died from the epidemic, it is not known in Chronicles it is mentioned that a separate cities – Belozersk, for example, died out completely. As historians believe, that this disease has ruined Moscow Prince Simeon the Proud, and his two sons as heirs.
The “track record” there are still major plague outbreaks in the mid-seventeenth century. One of them has covered Russia in 1654-1655 he Then “pestilence” died about 700 thousand people. And ten years later a terrible visitor came to the capital of England. On the Islands for this tragedy known as the great London epidemics. “Black death” took to himself every fourth inhabitant of the city.
Not escaped the plague, and eighteenth century. The bubonic form of the disease decimated in the early 1720s about one hundred thousand of the inhabitants of the South of France. And 50 years later, in 1770-1771. the outbreak of “pestilence” fell on Russia. The infection came to our country from the southern neighbours of the Ottoman Empire. Perhaps the most difficult situation is in Moscow. At the peak of the epidemic in the city died every day around 1000 hours��persons, only for the summer months passed away from the disease nearly 100 thousand. Quarantine and anti-epidemic measures predprinimatelya authorities, caused the people discontent, which resulted in unrest and even riots in the history of these events went down, as the plague riot.
the last time the world invasion of the plague – the so-called pandemic was marked at the turn of the NINETEENTH and twentieth centuries. Starting in Hong Kong, “the black death” spread to the South and South-East Asia. In India alone died from it at least 6 million. On merchant ships the infection has spread to America, Europe… But this time she did not give it to roam.
“a Terrible picture”
In 1894 the people recognized “face” of the causative agent of this horrible disease. “Little thick bacilli with rounded ends,” such the first time saw through the eyepiece of the microscope the plague germs of their discoverer, the Frenchman Alexander Yersin. And three years later, our compatriot, Russian doctor haffkine developed a vaccine to fight against the causative agent of plague.
Over time, the specialists comology have traced the path, which comes to us “black death”. The first victim of the plague germs, there are always the rodents that live in burrows – ground squirrels, marmots, gerbils, tarbagan… Carriers of infection are fleas, engorged blood of sick animals. Of them can pick up the infection domestic animals – camels, for instance…
And then one of the links in this terrible chain can be. When some of the people get in your body batch of “little fat sticks” – for example, flea bitten, regaled the meat of a sick camel, and it almost inevitably become infected with surrounding plague microbe killer easily penetrates through the damaged (by the bite of fleas, for example) the skin, through the mucous membranes – airborne.
After an incubation period ranging from 2 to 6 days, starting a fierce attack of the disease: the person has a fever, a splitting headache pain, the temperature is above 39. When the bubonic form of plague at the place of lymph nodes occur inflamed buboes-nodules. No better than the pulmonary form sick tormented by painful cough with bloody sputum. In either case, the diseased body rapidly weakening, loss of consciousness occurs… In former times the death rate from the plague reached 80-100%.
picture of the everyday work of doctors, struggling with an outbreak of “pestilence”, is impressive (you can compare it with the situation that we show in “antinobelevskih” the television set).
“…Loaded with tools, buckets, cans of disinfecting solution. we slowly walked on the hot soil to the affected plague the village. Our clothing consisted of overalls, two coats, dressed each other, white kerchiefs, medical hats, thick cotton-gauze respirator, glasses-canned, similar to a motorcycle, the rubber spog, oilcloth apron and two pairs of rubber gloves.
Throwing back the curtain of the Yurt we looked inside… Before my eyes appeared a terrible picture. The bodies of men and women in the mess was lying on felt mats and earthen floor. The plague has deformed their faces and skin seemed black. The smell of decay penetrated even through the thick layer of the respirator.
We pulled the bodies out and made an autopsy… were Treated with a solution of Lysol tent and clothes …and covered the bodies with bleach. The next morning half of the personnel of our expedition was busy unpleasant but necessary business of burning corpses… Huge bonfires were burning all day…” (From the memoirs of doctor L. Melnikova about Kyzyl-Hrvatskoj plague, 1949).
“a Disease of uncivilized peoples”
in the middle of the 20th century, scientists found a radical means of struggle with a terrible disease: antibiotics (e.g., streptomycin). So today the chances of survival of a person sick with the plague, is very high: mortality in appointing the right course of treatment does not exceed 10%. The main thing – time to start the fight against the disease. But it is necessary to make a correct diagnosis. Meanwhile the plague at the beginning of his reprisal against a person tries to masquerade as other ailments. An inexperienced physician can easily be trapped and to diagnose instead of the “pestilence” of, say, a banal flu, or so popular at present in pneumonia.
“Plague is a disease of uncivilized peoples,” – said one of the major specialists comlogo. In the Soviet Union “pestilence” appeared mainly in the periphery – in the steppe, in the mountain areas. On the territory of Russia the last human case of plague was recorded in Kalmykia Republic, in the village of Artezian more than 35 years ago.
catching a sickness spread at times very exotic reasons. For example, in some regions of Transcaucasia in the 1930s and 1940s existed among the local residents believed that the first dead of the plague drawn into the grave and all his relatives and neighbors. To protect themselves from the scourge of the aborigines, he recalled how the historian of medicine L. silber, digging up plague corpses, dissected them, cut pieces of internal organs and allowed to eat all relatives and friends. As a result of this monstrous “prevention” of “black death” could mow people down with remarkable ease.
Scientists have long revealed the existence of so-called natural foci of plague. These lands, inhabited by a colony of rodents, from time to time arise of the epidemic – plague mass diseases among animals presenting a danger to humans. In the vast Soviet Union were identified, 43 of the hearth, which occupied one-eighth of the stateStates. To combat “black death” in the Soviet Union was a powerful, not Empusa analogues in the world anti-plague system – 6 specialized institutes, 52 anti-plague station.
the Soviet Union was the only country where there was constant monitoring of all the natural plague foci. Moreover, we have tried to eradicate even the very cause of the “pestilence”: every summer, the special troops went in the desert and the foothills so nazyvaemye istirabadi, – poisoned chemistry of fleas and even rodents: because among them could be sick with plague animals.
“the center at the time threw a”
About the difficult situations faced by employees at times anti-epidemic services, the correspondent “MK” was told at the time of veteran-Humalog Moses levy
“the So-called Terek-Sunzha natural focus during the Soviet years was repeatedly exposed to a special preventive treatment. However, knowing the cunning of the plague microbe, we are not satisfied that conduct regular inspections. In summer our specialists went to the area and were caught literally every month for laboratory research rodents. Unfortunately, in the post-Soviet era, the outbreak of hostilities in the Ryan violated this well-established schedule…”
According to levy, at the end of last century the situation with the possible appearance of the plague in the war zone in General were out of control scientists:
“In the country was not stationary anti-plague station, so there was sent a brigade from Stavropol and Rostov institutions of Dagestan plague control station. After the beginning of active armed clashes with militants sent homologa had to work under military guard.
But since 1996, this natural focus in General for some time been abandoned to their fate. Attempt to conduct surveys in Respublica in time of war, alas, ended tragically: in one area, the militants fired at the car from the Stavropol medical Institute, omologo three killed, four wounded. However, after the normalization of the situation in the region still managed to take back control of the situation in this natural focus.”
a Few comopany territories after the collapse of the USSR appeared abroad – in the Caucasus, in the Central Asian republics. Brothers in CIS come to us without any problems. Meanwhile, what they have there in the “Soviet abroad” comes with the plague, the Russian specialists is not always known exactly… Enough worries with their own, the Russian plague, which cover about 300 million hectares. Every year several hundred members of the anti-plague service leave on field work.
“Brought “gift” in France��
the Idea of using plague infection as bacteriological weapons of mass destruction appeared for a long time. In ancient China, threw the corpses of the dead from the plague horses in streams and wells where the opposing side they took water. Practiced similar attacks in the old days in Europe, the middle East. For example in the surviving annals there is mention of how during the siege of cities, sometimes through the walls catapult throwing pieces of infected meat and viscera of animals.
is known for certain about carrying out active works on creation of biological weapons based on the causative agent of plague during the Second world war by the Japanese. Experts from their notorious unit 731 have repeatedly conducted experiments on people – the inhabitants of the occupied areas of China and Manchuria, pow. Laboratory in Japan even managed to create a strain of the plague pathogen with increased “stopping power” ten times more “clingy” than existing in the nature of the causative agent.
As told to Moses levy, in the Soviet Union, all issues associated with the problems of “war of the germs” was engaged in a secret laboratory, which was part of the Management of microbiological industry under the Ministry of health. According to levy, some of the “defectors”, who had gone there in civilian anti-plague system, later enough is hinted in private conversations with colleagues that the Soviet Union was developing biological weapons using plague microbes. How far then similar work with “pestilence”, the trustworthy information.
if the “black death” to get “allies” terrorists? Experienced comology Express about this great doubt. After all, before venturing somewhere such bacteriological attack, the villains must manage to identify the causative agent of plague, or get some lab strains. This requires skilled professionals, but not for long and by bio-terrorists “pestilence” to pick up! Even if predpolojit that the militants will be able, for example, to capture one of the anti-plague laboratories, – to profit by germs killer they will not succeed because, under the existing rules, the containers with the selected pathogens of especially dangerous infections, there is not stored.
According to experienced chanology, a lot more people should fear an independent visit of this dangerous disease. In this century the probability of introduction of plague from abroad has increased.
In Europe, in America, until recently, steadily growing number of airports that host international Charter flights. Each of these “air stations” should have its own sanitary and quarantine station. However, to establish their clear works�� difficult. Meanwhile, the sad experience of Western countries gives much food for thought: the staff of the French quarantine service missed a few years ago, his compatriot, landing plague plague in India and zalezshego a “gift” on the territory of France! Fortunately, to clear up the infection then was not given, but the precedent is significant, a warning.
Despite all the efforts of the medics to defeat the plague on a global scale has not succeeded yet. Annually on earth is fixed to 2.5 thousand cases of this terrible disease. Leadership in this sad “marathon” to hold countries in Africa (particularly the Congo) and Asia (including the plague of PE from time to time arise among our neighbours in Mongolia and China).
One of the most dysfunctional “comopany” places is Madagascar. Since 2013, this island nation has recorded several outbreaks, and with a high degree of mortality. In 2017, there were over 2000 cases, with more than a hundred people infected died.
