The Black Death - Modern Nightmare?

Is the time ripe for the re-emergence of haemorrhagic plague?

Is the deadly virus still living in its animal host in Africa? Many apocalyptic scenarios have been suggested for the end of the world and governments invest varying amounts of money and effort in preparing for these potential threats, but few have taken seriously the possibility that a killer viral disease, such as the Black Death or something like it, could emerge without warning and destroy our civilisation.

The circumstances of human life in the twenty-first century, a world out of balance – so different from those of medieval Europe – would facilitate rather than hinder the progress of such an epidemic and the devastation would be on a vastly greater scale. Using our imagination and what we have already learned, we can suggest how haemorrhagic plague has been lying in wait and could suddenly pounce again on the human race.

Imagine the scenario

Sometime in the twenty-first century...

The infection was brought back to the western world by biologists who had been working closely with primates in the high forests of central Africa. They returned home to New York and unwittingly spread the infection widely when travelling daily on the crowded public transport. The subway, packed with constantly changing passengers, allowed transmission of the virus to a great many victims coming into the city over a wide radius. Some were visitors from all over the world. Trips to sporting venues, theatres and cinemas all disseminated the infection widely before the symptoms appeared in any of the victims.

When the primary cases died, the health authorities realised that their patients had contracted a serious, unknown disease and they took proper precautions with full protective clothing when nursing them and the bodies were sealed into special bags. Beyond that, there was nothing else that they could do.

It was only when the multitude of secondary and tertiary cases began to appear all over the country and worldwide that the scale of the epidemic became apparent. Too late, the damage had been done. It proved impossible to establish any form of quarantine because the disease was spreading so rapidly. It was uncontrollable. The terrible bug particularly favoured discos, shopping malls, cinemas, sporting events, centrally heated offices and schools and these were all closed by law.