COMMON FLU, PLAGUES, AND CHOLERA

The “Common” Flu The flu is responsible for an average of 36,000 deaths a year in the United States. AIDS, in comparison, causes about 15,000 deaths a year in the United States. That makes the “common” flu more than twice the killer that AIDs is.


The Plague of Justinian 541 AD Most likely a bubonic plague, this one killed one quarter of the population surrounding the Mediterranean. At its height, it killed 10,000 a day in Constantinople.


The First Cholera Pandemic 1817 - 1823 The outbreak began in Calcutta and quickly spread to the rest of the subcontinent, eventually extending as far as the Middle Eastern southern Russia and China.

There is absolutely no way to know how many died, because records were not kept. However, the British Army recorded 100,000 deaths among its native and European troops, so the mortality must have been staggering. Infected rice apparently was to blame for the start of the outbreak.


There have been seven pandemic outbreaks of cholera in since this one. The seventh began in 1961, and according to the World Health Organization continues today. In 1999, WHO recorded more than 9,000 cholera deaths.
Cholera is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae and is spread by drinking water and food contaminated with the bacteria.

We need a report on Cholera from Nenna. She has been in Africa for over a year teaching and treating Cholera and AIDS. It is disturbing to learn purifying water would make such a difference. Thanks, Nenna.

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