Many deadly viruses ‘originated’ from US, not China: reports

LAHORE: Fighting head over heels to stem the tide of the fast-spreading and lethal coronavirus, the Chinese authorities are perhaps unable to find time and remind the American media houses particularly that during the last few centuries, majority of the deadliest viruses have exploded within the United States, and not China, to claim millions of human lives.

However, one does come across a few angry Chinese bloggers busy pleading their country’s case on globally-subscribed social media websites, whereby complaining of the strong biases and grudges the American and European media outlets have been nourishing against China, which is most likely to experience a sharp drop in its GDP, exports, imports and the influx of Foreign Direct Investment due to the coronavirus outbreak on its soil.

The situation has led to an abrupt cancelation of international flights to and fro China, closure of businesses by many multi-billion dollar American and European corporate giants on the Chinese soil; and hence a sharp reduction in demand for Chinese goods might lead to a shrinking trade volume of the country.

Moreover, nearly every nation on earth is currently looking at passengers travelling from China and landing on their soils with a suspicion, fearing they might be carrying the deadly virus that has found no cure till date. In china alone, the death toll has reached around 500, while 25 more countries have got coronavirus patients to treat.

The Chinese government and their media houses, taken aback by the rapid spread of coronavirus, are thus unable to answer their critics in the United States, which has itself been a source of some of the deadliest viral and bacterial diseases the planet has witnessed in recorded history.

Memories are certainly short! The 2009-2010 flu pandemic, also called the H1N1 Influenza or the swine flu, had spread from the United States to wreak havoc in 206 countries of the world, leading to over 2,00,000 deaths.

National Public Radio (NPR), an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organisation based in Washington DC, had shed enough light on this 2009-2010 flu pandemic in its November 26, 2013 report.

The NPR report had stated: “By the World Health Organization (WHO)'s official tally, the flu pandemic of 2009-10 killed 18,449 people around the world. Those are deaths of people who had laboratory-confirmed cases of the so-called swine flu. But a fresh analysis says the real toll was 10 times higher - up to 203,000 deaths. And maybe it was twice that, if you count people who died of things like heart attacks precipitated by the flu.”

The 50-year old American Radio had added: “Let's takethe conservative figure of 203,000. That's about the same as a normal flu season. So the figure confirms the popular impression that the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009 was a paper tiger, as these things go. Or as one NPR listener suggested back in early 2010, the headline might be: "Despite Puffed-Up Fears, Swine Flu Was a complete and total bust." That's an odd complaint, of course - as though it would have been better if the 2009 pandemic had been more like the pandemic of 1918-19, which killed an estimated 50 million people around the world.”

The NPR had further maintained: “But the current study, commissioned by the WHO, helps explain why the agency struggled so much to calibrate its response to that pandemic and find the right tone for its public messaging. WHO leaders were first criticised for taking too long to declare a pandemic when spread of the disease clearly met its definition. Then critics charged the agency with hyping the situation under pressure from vaccine makers who wanted to recoup their investment.

The low number of laboratory-confirmed deaths - just 18,449 - added to the confusion, a team of global health researchers write Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine: "This modest number has caused many to wonder what all the excitement was about, and some to question whether the pandemic response was excessive."

By the way, as research shows - by September 1, 2009 - the World Health Organization had reported that H1N1 influenza had been confirmed in over 200,000 people in more than 100 countries and that they are aware of at least 2185 confirmed deaths.

By November 15, 2009, more than 206 countries and overseas territories or communities had reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 6770 deaths.

By December 22, 2009, every European country, barring five exceptions like San Marino and Vatican City, had confirmed deaths.

France had 27; Spain, 33; Norway, 29; Italy, 6; Belgium and Germany, 8; Sweden, 3; Malta and Greece, 3; Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Luxemburg, one each; Ireland and the Netherlands, 10, and the United Kingdom, 79.

The British government had suggested 55,000 new cases in the week up to July 16, 2009.

In Pakistan, the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, had tested and confirmed 679 cases, whereby 39 deaths were reported from 2009 till 2010.

Overall, throughout Asia, the 2009 flu pandemic had afflicted at least 394,133 people, with 2,137 confirmed deaths.

There were 1,035 deaths confirmed in India, 737 deaths in China, 415 deaths in Turkey, 192 deaths in Thailand and 170 deaths in South Korea. Among the Asian countries, South Korea had the most confirmed cases, followed by China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

A WHO report of February 24, 2010 had asserted: “After early outbreaks in North America in April 2009 the new influenza virus spread rapidly around the world. By the time WHO declared a pandemic in June 2009, a total of 74 countries and territories had reported laboratory confirmed infections.”

Meanwhile, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had estimated that from April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, there were 60.8 million cases, 274,304 hospitalisations and 12,469 deaths.

This American department had estimated that between 151,700 and 575,400 people had died worldwide from this virus.

Research shows that in March 2009, the first human infection with new influenza or H1N1 virus was detected in the American state of California. By May 2009, some 980 schools across the US were hit by this virus, affecting 607,778 students. By June 19, 2009, all 50 American states were affected.

By September 2009, more than 1,000 test kits had been shipped to 120 domestic and 250 international laboratories in 140 countries.

Between April 2009 and April 2010, the US government had held 60 related media events – 39 press briefings and 22 tele-briefings - reaching more than 35,000 participants.

And on August 10, 2010, WHO had declared an end to this influenza pandemic.

History of deadly viruses in the United States, mostly home-grown:

According to the San Francisco-based “Healthline Media", an American website and provider of health, smallpox came to North America in the 1600’s. People had symptoms of high fever, chills, severe back pain, and rashes. In 1721, at least 844 people having smallpox had perished.

In 1770, Edward Jenner developed a vaccine from cow pox. It helped the body become immune to smallpox without causing the disease. After a large vaccination initiative in 1972, smallpox is gone from the United States. In fact, vaccines are no longer necessary.

The 1793 Yellow fever from the Caribbean:

Philadelphia, once the nation’s capital and its busiest port, was the source of this virus, spread by Mosquitoes.

Over 5,000 people died, and 17,000 fled the city.

A vaccine was eventually developed and then licensed in 1953. One vaccine is enough for life.

While yellow fever has no cure, someone who does recover from the illness, becomes immune for the rest of their life.

The 1832-1866 Cholera waves:

The United States had three serious waves of cholera, an infection of the intestine, between 1832 and 1866. The pandemic began in India, and swiftly spread across the globe through trade routes. New York City was usually the first city to feel the impact. An estimated two to six Americans died per day during the outbreak.

The last documented outbreak in the United States was in 1911.

Cholera still causes nearly 130,000 deaths a year worldwide, according to the US government.

Although modern sewage and water treatment have helped eradicated Cholera in some countries, the virus is still present elsewhere.

The 1858 Scarlet fever waves:

Scarlet fever is a bacterial infection that can occur after strep throat. Like cholera, scarlet fever epidemics came in waves. During the 1858 epidemic, 95 per cent of people who caught the virus were children.

Research shows that improvements in public health were more likely the cause of eradication of this disease, and not just improved nutrition.

The 1906-1907 “Typhoid Mary":

One of the biggest typhoid fever epidemics of all time broke out between 1906 and 1907 in New York.

A cook called Mary Mallon, often referred to as “Typhoid Mary", had reportedly spread the virus to about 122 New Yorkers during her time as a chef on an estate and in a hospital unit. About five of those 122 New Yorkers passed away from the virus. Annually, 10,771 people passed away from typhoid fever.

Medical testing showed that Mallon was a healthy carrier for typhoid fever. Typhoid fever causes sickness and red spots to form on the chest and abdomen. A vaccine was then developed in 1911, and an antibiotic treatment for typhoid fever became available in 1948.

The 1918 “Spanish Flu":

This catastrophe had killed 675,000 Americans.

This mutating influenza virus actually did not come from Spain. It circulates the globe annually, but seriously affected the United States in 1918. The flu returned later in 1957 as the “Asian flu” and cause nearly 70,000 deaths before a vaccine became available.

The 1921-1925 Diphtheria epidemic:

This virus had killed over 15,520 people at its peak, before a vaccine was developed during the same period.

Diphtheria caused swelling of the mucous membranes and obstructed breathing and swallowing.

Today more than 80 per cent of children in the United States are vaccinated.

The 1916-1955 Polio peak:

Some 3145 people had died in United States during 1952 due to polio, which affects the human nervous system, causing paralysis. The first major polio epidemic in the United States occurred in 1916 and reached its peak in 1952.

In 1955, Dr Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine. The United States has been polio-free since 1979. In fact, Pakistan and just a couple of more unfortunate nations are still struggling to eradicate polio.

The 1981-1991 Measles outbreak:

Between this period, between 2000 and 10,000 people had died from measles.

The 1993 contaminated water in the US state of Milwaukee.

This had led to 100 deaths, although over 0.4 million people were affected.

The 2010-2014 Whooping Cough disease:

More than 10 infants had perished due to this terrible cough between 2010 and 2014, though 10,000 cases were reported across the US.

The HIV/AIDS Syndrome since 1980’s: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This is a leading cause of early death. About 1.2 million people in United States alone have this disease.

The AIDS epidemic had found its way to the United States as early as 1960, but was first noticed after doctors discovered it in gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981.

Globally, according to the United Nations, 37.9 million [32.7 million-44.0 million] people were living with HIV in 2018.

And around 770 000 [570 000-1.1 million] people had died from AIDS-related illnesses by the end of 2018.

In the early 2000s - 2004 to 2005, global deaths reached their peak at almost 2 million per year.

From the 1990s through to the early 2000s, it was the cause of greater than 1-in-3 deaths in several countries. In Zimbabwe, it accounted for more than half of annual deaths in the late 1990s.