Author: Bird Flu Pandemic Threatens Globalization

Allister Heath provides background to economic implications of a bird flu pandemic.

Heath writes:

IN his classic account of the Plague in his great work Decameron, published in 1350, the Italian humanist Giovanni Boccaccio wrote that “what gave this pestilence particularly severe force was that whenever the disease mixed with healthy people, like a fire through dry grass or oil, it would run upon the healthy.”

The western world has become remarkably complacent, assuming that the scenes described so vividly by Boccaccio will never again be seen outside the Third World. Rich countries often labour under the illusion that – thanks to hugely improved hygiene, high living standards, scientific breakthroughs and readily available healthcare – they are now safe from the devastating infectious diseases that used to sweep the world at regular intervals, killing millions of people.