Doble Peligro

 

Esculturas: Alexis Mujica

 

BIG / GRANDE

St Andrew and St Patrick, Elveden, Suffolk

 

As you approach Elveden, there is Suffolk’s biggest war memorial, to those killed from the three parishes that meet at this point. It is over 30 metres high, and you used to be able to climb up the inside. Someone in the village told me that more people have been killed on the road in Elveden since the end of the War than there are names on the war memorial. I could well believe it. Until about five years ago, the busy traffic of the A11 Norwich to London road hurtled through the village past the church, slowed only to a ridiculously high 50 MPH. If something hits you at that speed, then no way on God's Earth are you going to survive. Now there's a bypass, thank goodness.

 

Many people will know St Andrew and St Patrick as another familiar landmark on the road, but as you are swept along in the stream of traffic you are unlikely to appreciate quite how extraordinary a building it is. For a start, it has two towers. And a cloister. And two naves, effectively. It has undergone three major building programmes in the space of thirty years, any one of which would have sufficed to transform it utterly.

 

If you had seen this church before the 1860s, you would have thought it nothing remarkable. A simple aisle-less, clerestory-less building, typical of, and indistinguishable from, hundreds of other East Anglian flint churches. A journey to nearby Barnham will show you what I mean.

 

The story of the transformation of Elveden church begins in the early 19th century, on the other side of the world. The leader of the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh, controlled a united Punjab that stretched from the Khyber Pass to the borders of Tibet. His capital was at Lahore, but more importantly it included the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. The wealth of this vast Kingdom made him a major power-player in early 19th century politics, and he was a particular thorn in the flesh of the British Imperial war machine. At this time, the Punjab had a great artistic and cultural flowering that was hardly matched anywhere in the world.

 

It was not to last. The British forced Ranjit Singh to the negotiating table over the disputed border with Afghanistan, and a year later, in 1839, he was dead. A power vacuum ensued, and his six year old son Duleep Singh became a pawn between rival factions. It was exactly the opportunity that the British had been waiting for, and in February 1846 they poured across the borders in their thousands. Within a month, almost half the child-Prince's Kingdom was in foreign hands. The British installed a governor, and started to harvest the fruits of their new territory's wealth.

 

Over the next three years, the British gradually extended their rule, putting down uprisings and turning local warlords. Given that the Sikh political structures were in disarray, this was achieved at considerable loss to the invaders - thousands of British soldiers were killed. They are hardly remembered today. British losses at the Crimea ten years later were much slighter, but perhaps the invention of photography in the meantime had given people at home a clearer picture of what was happening, and so the Crimea still remains in the British folk memory.

 

For much of the period of the war, Prince Duleep Singh had remained in the seclusion of his fabulous palace in Lahore. However, once the Punjab was secure, he was sent into remote internal exile.

 

The missionaries poured in. Bearing in mind the value that Sikh culture places upon education, perhaps it is no surprise that their influence came to bear on the young Prince, and he became a Christian. The extent to which this was forced upon him is lost to us today.

 

A year later, the Prince sailed for England with his mother. He was admitted to the royal court by Queen Victoria, spending time both at Windsor and, particularly, in Scotland, where he grew up. In the 1860s, the Prince and his mother were significant members of London society, but she died suddenly in 1863. He returned with her ashes to the Punjab, and there he married. His wife, Bamba Muller, was part German, part Ethiopian. As part of the British pacification of India programme, the young couple were granted the lease on a vast, derelict stately home in the depths of the Suffolk countryside. This was Elveden Hall. He would never see India again.

 

With some considerable energy, Duleep Singh set about transforming the fortunes of the moribund estate. Being particularly fond of hunting (as a six year old, he'd had two tutors - one for learning the court language, Persian, and the other for hunting to hawk) he developed the estate for game. The house was rebuilt in 1870.

 

The year before, the Prince had begun to glorify the church so that it was more in keeping with the splendour of his court. This church, dedicated to St Andrew, was what now forms the north aisle of the present church. There are many little details, but the restoration includes two major features; firstly, the remarkable roof, with its extraordinary sprung sprung wallposts set on arches suspended in the window embrasures, and, secondly, the font, which Mortlock tells us is in the Sicilian-Norman style. Supported by eight elegant columns, it is very beautiful, and the angel in particular is one of Suffolk's loveliest. You can see him in an image on the left.

 

Duleep Singh seems to have settled comfortably into the role of an English country gentleman. And then, something extraordinary happened. The Prince, steeped in the proud tradition of his homeland, decided to return to the Punjab to fulfill his destiny as the leader of the Sikh people. He got as far as Aden before the British arrested him, and sent him home. He then set about trying to recruit Russian support for a Sikh uprising, travelling secretly across Europe in the guise of an Irishman, Patrick Casey. In between these times of cloak and dagger espionage, he would return to Elveden to shoot grouse with the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. It is a remarkable story.

 

Ultimately, his attempts to save his people from colonial oppression were doomed to failure. He died in Paris in 1893, the British seemingly unshakeable in their control of India. He was buried at Elveden churchyard in a simple grave.

 

The chancel of the 1869 church is now screened off as a chapel, accessible from the chancel of the new church, but set in it is the 1894 memorial window to Maharaja Prince Duleep Singh, the Adoration of the Magi by Kempe & Co.

 

And so, the Lion of the North had come to a humble end. His five children, several named after British royal princes, had left Elveden behind; they all died childless, one of them as recently as 1957. The estate reverted to the Crown, being bought by the brewing family, the Guinnesses.

 

Edward Cecil Guinness, first Earl Iveagh, commemorated bountifully in James Joyce's 1916 Ulysses, took the estate firmly in hand. The English agricultural depression had begun in the 1880s, and it would not be ended until the Second World War drew the greater part of English agriculture back under cultivation. It had hit the Estate hard. But Elveden was transformed, and so was the church.

 

Iveagh appointed William Caroe to build an entirely new church beside the old. It would be of such a scale that the old church of St Andrew would form the south aisle of the new church. The size may have reflected Iveagh's visions of grandeur, but it was also a practical arrangement, to accommodate the greatly enlarged staff of the estate. Attendance at church was compulsory; non-conformists were also expected to go, and the Guinnesses did not employ Catholics.

 

Between 1904 and 1906, the new structure went up. Mortlock recalls that Pevsner thought it 'Art Nouveau Gothic', which sums it up well. Lancet windows in the north side of the old church were moved across to the south side, and a wide open nave built beside it. Curiously, although this is much higher than the old and incorporates a Suffolk-style roof, Caroe resisted the temptation of a clerestory. The new church was rebenched throughout, and the woodwork is of a very high quality. The dates of the restoration can be found on bench ends up in the new chancel, and exploring all the symbolism will detain you for hours. Emblems of the nations of the British Isles also feature in the floor tiles.

 

The new church was dedicated to St Patrick, patron Saint of the Guinnesses' homeland. At this time, of course, Ireland was still a part of the United Kingdom, and despite the tensions and troubles of the previous century the Union was probably stronger at the opening of the 20th century than it had ever been. This was to change very rapidly. From the first shots fired at the General Post Office in April 1916, to complete independence in 1922, was just six years. Dublin, a firmly protestant city, in which the Iveaghs commemorated their dead at the Anglican cathedral of St Patrick, became the capital city of a staunchly Catholic nation. The Anglicans, the so-called Protestant Ascendancy, left in their thousands during the 1920s, depopulating the great houses, and leaving hundreds of Anglican parish churches completely bereft of congregations. Apart from a concentration in the wealthy suburbs of south Dublin, there are hardly any Anglicans left in the Republic today. But St Patrick's cathedral maintains its lonely witness to long years of British rule; the Iveagh transept includes the vast war memorial to WWI dead, and all the colours of the Irish regiments - it is said that 99% of the Union flags in the Republic are in the Guinness chapel of St Patrick's cathedral. Dublin, of course, is famous as the biggest city in Europe without a Catholic cathedral. It still has two Anglican ones.

 

Against this background then, we arrived at Elveden. The church is uncomfortably close to the busy road, but the sparkle of flint in the recent rain made it a thing of great beauty. The main entrance is now at the west end of the new church. The surviving 14th century tower now forms the west end of the south aisle, and we will come back to the other tower beyond it in a moment.

 

You step into a wide open space under a high, heavy roof laden with angels. There is a wide aisle off to the south; this is the former nave, and still has something of that quality. The whole space is suffused with gorgeously coloured light from excellent 19th and 20th century windows. These include one by Frank Brangwyn, at the west end of the new nave. Andrew and Patrick look down from a heavenly host on a mother and father entertaining their children and a host of woodland animals by reading them stories. It is quite the loveliest thing in the building.

 

Other windows, mostly in the south aisle, are also lovely. Hugh Easton's commemorative window for the former USAAF base at Elveden is magnificent. Either side are windows to Iveaghs - a gorgeous George killing a dragon, also by Hugh Easton, and a curious 1971 assemblage depicting images from the lives of Edward Guinness's heir and his wife, which also works rather well. The effect of all three windows together is particularly fine when seen from the new nave.

 

Turning ahead of you to the new chancel, there is the mighty alabaster reredos. It cost £1,200 in 1906, about a quarter of a million in today’s money. It reflects the woodwork, in depicting patron Saints and East Anglian monarchs, around a surprisingly simple Supper at Emmaus. This reredos, and the Brangwyn window, reminded me of the work at the Guinness’s other spiritual home, St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, which also includes a window by Frank Brangwyn commisioned by them. Everything is of the highest quality. Rarely has the cliché ‘no expense spared’ been as accurate as it is here.

 

Up at the front, a little brass plate reminds us that Edward VII slept through a sermon here in 1908. How different it must have seemed to him from the carefree days with his old friend the Maharajah! Still, it must have been a great occasion, full of Edwardian pomp, and the glitz that only the fabulously rich can provide. Today, the church is still splendid, but the Guinesses are no longer fabulously rich, and attendance at church is no longer compulsory for estate workers; there are far fewer of them anyway. The Church of England is in decline everywhere; and, let us be honest, particularly so in this part of Suffolk, where it seems to have retreated to a state of siege. Today, the congregation of this mighty citadel is as low as half a dozen. The revolutionary disappearance of Anglican congregations in the Iveagh's homeland is now being repeated in a slow, inexorable English way.

 

You wander outside, and there are more curiosities. Set in the wall are two linked hands, presumably a relic from a broken 18th century memorial. They must have been set here when the wall was moved back in the 1950s. In the south chancel wall, the bottom of an egg-cup protrudes from among the flints. This is the trademark of the architect WD Caroe. To the east of the new chancel, Duleep Singh’s gravestone is a very simple one. It is quite different in character to the church behind it. A plaque on the east end of the church remembers the centenary of his death.

 

Continuing around the church, you come to the surprise of a long cloister, connecting the remodelled chancel door of the old church to the new bell tower. It was built in 1922 as a memorial to the wife of the first Earl Iveagh. Caroe was the architect again, and he installed eight bells, dedicated to Mary, Gabriel, Edmund, Andrew, Patrick, Christ, God the Father, and the King. The excellent guidebook recalls that his intention was for the bells to be cast to maintain the hum and tap tones of the renowned ancient Suffolk bells of Lavenham... thus the true bell music of the old type is maintained.

 

This church is magnificent, obviously enough. It has everything going for it, and is a national treasure. And yet, it has hardly any congregation. So, what is to be done?

 

If we continue to think of rural historic churches as nothing more than outstations of the Church of England, it is hard to see how some of them will survive. This church in particular has no future in its present form as a village parish church. New roles must be found, new ways to involve local people and encourage their use. One would have thought that this would be easier here than elsewhere.

 

The other provoking thought was that this building summed up almost two centuries of British imperial adventure, and that we lived in a world that still suffered from the consequences. It is worth remembering where the wealth that rebuilt St Andrew and St Patrick came from.

 

As so often in British imperial history, interference in other peoples’ problems and the imposition of short-term solutions has left massive scars and long-cast shadows. For the Punjab, as in Ireland, there are no simple solutions. Sheer proximity has, after several centuries of cruel and exploitative involvement, finally encouraged the British government to pursue a solution in Ireland that is not entirely based on self-interest. I fear that the Punjab is too far away for the British to care very much now about what they did there then.

Police tape around play areas in a local park. The dolls were left on the picnic table by someone else and not staged for this shot. Maybe a memorial to all of the more than 32,000 COVID-19 victims worldwide. Please do your part to defeat this horrible pandemic: follow CDC guidelines and stay home!

This tribe may no longer exist soon as a big dam will be build in Ethiopia on Omo river, and will have huge consequences on their life...

The Karo (or Kara), with a population of about 1000 - 1500 live on the east banks of the Omo River in south Ethiopia.

Their neighbors are the Hamar,Bana,Bashada,the famous Mursi and Nyangatom (on the other side of Omo river, who are their enemies ) . They speak a south Omotic language.

The Karo grow sorghum ,maize and beans .

Karo use to paint body and decorate their face. They use white chalk, charcoal, ochre and red earth.. Karo women scarify their chests to beautify themselves .The scarification of a man's chest shows that he has killed an enemy or a dangerous animal. The scars are done with a knife or razor blade and ash is rubbed into.

The wearing of a grey and ochre clay headdress also indicates the killing of an enemy or a dangerous animal. Hamar do the same.

The women have a very nice hairdress: they put red clay mixed with butter and fat in their hair, so that the hair looks like a bunch of coffee beans. Women still wear leather clothing made from animal skins.

The men all use a wood headrest to protect their hair bun, and they use it too to sit.

They love to rest under the men house, the chifo. At the end of the harvest and at times of initiation and marriage, the Karo come together to enjoy dances with a lot of local beer. These happy times often lead to marriage after the young man has successfully accompling the bull jumping. A Karo man may take as many wives as he can afford, but usually he marries two or three.

  

Les Karos (ou Karas) sont environs 100-1500 à vivire sur la rive est du fleuve Omo en Ethiopie du Sud. Leurs voisins sont les Hamars, Banas, Bashadas,Mursis, et les Nyangatom qui vivent de l’autre cote du fleuve et qui sont leurs ennemis de longue date. Les Karos cultivent du sorgo, du mais et des haricots.

Les Karos sont fameux pour leurs peintures corporelles et les décorations qu’ils portent. Ils utilisent de la craie, du charbon, et de la terre pour se dessiner des motifs sur le corps. Les hommes et les femmes aiment se scarifier la poitrine. Les femmes pour être plus belle, les hommes pour indiquer qu’ils ont tué un ennemi ou un animal dangereux. Les hommes portent aussi un petit casque en argile sur le sommet du crane et y plantent des plumes d’autruches. Ils ne se separent jamais de leur appui tête qui fait aussi office de petit siege. Les hommes aiment se retrouver sous un abri appelé chifo pour discuter et se reposer.

Les femmes soignent leur coiffure et lorsqu’elles ne rasent pas la tête, portent une coiffure en forme de grains de café. Elles portent toujours des vetements faits à partir de peaux d’animaux.

A la fin des recoltes, ou lors des ceremonies, les Karos aiment danser et boire la biere locale, occasion revee pour former les couples. Les garcons doivent passer l’epreuve du saut des vaches avant de pouvoir pretender à epouser une femme. L’homme Karo peut avoir autant de femmes qu’il souhaite, en general 2 ou 3.

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

The Menindee Lakes is a natural series of lakes that fill with water when the Darling-Baaka River floods. In the 1960s, a series of engineering projects augmented the Menindee Lakes, allowing water to be directed into the lakes and held back or released. This ensured a reliable water supply for the city of Broken Hill, the township of Menindee and secure supply of water for the Lower Darling River and supply to South Australia.

 

The Menindee Lakes system provides important habitat, nursery and recruitment for native fish, such as the Murray Cod and Golden Perch. It is important habitat for a huge variety of native and migratory bird species. The Menindee Lakes system is vital to the communities of the Far West, providing recreation and amenity, as well as attracting tourism, recreational fishing, horticulture and viticulture.

 

The Darling-Baaka River is central to the cultural, spiritual and economic lives of the Barkindji people.

 

The health of the Menindee Lakes and the Darling-Baaka River are intimately linked. The lakes fill from the Darling-Baaka River and water stored in the Menindee Lakes keeps the Lower Darling flowing during dry times. The Great Darling Anabranch is a series of ephemeral creeks, billabongs and lakes that wind their way to the Murray River to the west of the main Darling-Baaka River Channel.

 

Irrigation expands:

 

There has been a rapid expansion of irrigation along the rivers in the Northern Basin of the Murray Darling Basin, particularly cotton. Irrigation of cotton has expanded by 4,000% since the 1970s. In 1971 Australia grew 81,000 bales of cotton. By 2012 Australia grew 5.3 million bales. Irrigation dams - Wee Waa

 

Much of the cotton is grown along the rivers of the Murray Darling in very large irrigation enterprises, with most of the cotton grown on tributaries of the Darling-Baaka River.

 

Large private storages were built to hold water and other structures were built to capture flood waters. Water licences and water sharing plans allow irrigators to suck huge quantities from the tributaries of the Darling-Baaka even when flows are modest.

 

The result has been that low and medium flows have virtually stopped flowing down the Darling-Baaka River. Only the largest floods that cannot be captured upstream, or specially protected environmental flows, now make it down to the Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling-Baaka River.

 

An easy target?

 

After the Millennium Drought exposed just how over-allocated the river systems of the Murray-Darling Basin were, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was agreed between the Commonwealth and the states. The Plan aimed to make the Murray-Darling Basin system more sustainable by returning more water to the rivers through buying back water licences and other measures to recover water for the environment.

 

Menindee Slogan Bus:

 

The irrigation industry views the water flowing into the Menindee Lakes as wasteful and unproductive (not growing crops). They would prefer water to be taken from the Menindee Lakes to meet the targets under the Basin Plan rather than for the irrigation industry to be compelled to use less water. The industry points to the volume of water that evaporates from the Menindee Lakes each year as a key reason to reduce the amount of water flowing into and being stored in the lakes. The amount of water that evaporates from shallow private storages in equally hot and dry climates is rarely mentioned.

 

Scientists and environmentalists view the water that flows down our rivers, fills wetland and billabongs, and spills over floodplains as highly productive for nature and vital for sustaining complex ecosystems that have evolved over eons. These flows are also vital for replenishing underground aquifers and for sustaining downstream communities and Indigenous cultures.

 

Some politicians view the Menindee Lakes as an easy target. The population around Menindee is sparse, without much economic or political clout. The birds, fish and wildlife can not vote, lobby or protest. Taking water from the Menindee Lakes system is seen as politically easier than seeking to recover water from loud, well-connected and politically savvy irrigators. The location of the Menindee Lakes in a remote part of NSW that is out of sight and out of mind for many citizens located on the eastern seaboard also makes it hard for the issue to gain political traction.

 

A plan to decommission the Menindee Lakes:

 

After the Menindee Lakes filled from a major flood event in Queensland and NSW 2012, they were rapidly emptied by the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the NSW Government. Usually the lakes would hold water for many years after they filled, but by 2014 they were emptied. As a consequence, Broken Hill was in danger of running out of water and the government announced a plan to drill bores to supply the city with low-quality bore water. Locals were outraged at this plan and were concerned that the Menindee Lakes had been deliberately drained so quickly as part of a plan to justify the decommissioning of the lakes.RIP Menindee Lakes

 

Another flood filled the Menindee Lakes in late 2016, but again they were rapidly drained, almost inexplicably into a flooding river. By then end of 2017 they were again dry just as drought started to bite and Broken Hill was facing another artificial water shortage.

 

Flush with cash from privatising the electricity networks, the NSW Government spent $500 million building a 270 kilometres water pipeline from the Murray River at Wentworth to Broken Hill. This ended the city’s reliance on the Darling-Baaka River and Menindee Lakes for water supply. Cotton Australia applauded the construction of the pipeline saying in their Annual Report, "The pipeline is a win for the community, the environment and irrigating farmers, and a solution Cotton Australia and its allies have long lobbied for." Meanwhile the local community was concerned that the pipeline would allow the NSW Government to decommission the Menindee Lakes without worrying about Broken Hill's water supply.

 

Sure enough, plans to reconfigure the Menindee Lakes are back on the table as a project to 'recover water from the environment' under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan's Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism. The NSW Government wants to save up to 100 gigalitres of water each year by reducing the volume water stored in Menindee Lakes by up to 80%. A range of proposals have been put forward for consultation.

 

The Darling River Action Group has labelled the plans as 'ecological genocide.' They strongly oppose the huge reduction in habitat that will occur if reconfiguration plans go ahead. They worry that changing the times between and length of inundation in the lakes will have a major impact on fish breeding and birdlife. The Barkindji native title holders are also strongly opposed to the plans, with significant concerns about the impact on their culture, community, environment and sacred sites.

 

Fish kills and dry rivers and lakes:

 

Fish Kill Menindee In the teeth severe drought, predictions of environmental catastrophe on the Darling River came true as millions of fish floated dead on the surface. Hot weather and a lack of flows led to a blue-green algae bloom that stripped the water of oxygen when it died, suffocating many millions of fish along a length of the Darling-Baaka River. Images of giant Murray Cod many decades old floating on the surface of a stagnant, bright green river shocked Australians. If water had been stored in the Menindee Lakes, a flow of water in the Darling-Baaka River could have been maintained and millions of fish and other creatures would have survived. It was noted that the very large mature Murray Cod that had died would have survived numerous previous droughts, so what had changed?

 

A report by the Australian Academy of Science concluded:

 

The conditions leading to this event are an interaction between a severe (but not unprecedented) drought and, more significantly, excess upstream diversion of water for irrigation. Prior releases of water from Menindee Lakes contributed to lack of local reserves.

 

A small flow in mid-2019 led to a partial revival of the Darling-Baaka River and water in the upper lakes of the Menindee Lakes system. However, the Menindee Lakes and Darling-Baaka River face three major threats:

 

1) The proposed re-configuration of the Menindee Lakes system;

 

2) The continuing overallocation of water extraction licences in the Northern Basin of the Murray-Darling system;

 

3) The extent and proposed licencing of floodplain harvesting, which is capturing huge quantities of water before it can even reach the waterways of the Darling-Baaka River.

 

Source: Save Menindee Lakes (www.savemenindeelakes.org.au/the_history)

Storm Claudia hit hard with unrelenting rain and high winds, blowing over large trees, signage, and even snapping a telegraph pole nearby. This was one of two trees which brought overhead hi-tension lines down with them, leaving us without power for 20 hours

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Please, do not use any photographs in any way or form without permission

 

The use without permission is PROHIBITED and will lead to consequences.

Mute Swan, Isfahan Bird's Garden, Iran

© Vafa Nematzadeh. All rights reserved. Thank you very much for your visits, faves and comments here.

 

“His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck's nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg.”

― Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

 

— * For : Danish writer "Hans Christian Andersen" and Beautiful short story "The Ugly Duckling" Published in 1843

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCBL33NKvPA&list=RDiCBL33NKvP...

 

It was perfect.

 

That was the mistake.

 

Ruckus touched it.

Didn’t think. Didn’t need to.

 

The line broke.

 

Hope felt it —

not fear, just wrong.

 

No time to fix it.

No time to move.

 

The hit landed clean.

 

Tommy lunged.

Ruckus knew.

 

Too late.

 

Because control doesn’t fail.

 

It keeps score.

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Locandina:

pad.mymovies.it/filmclub/2016/04/067/coverlg_home.jpg

 

variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/fiore_06.jpg?w=100...

 

www.nonsolocinema.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/MG_76...

 

amnc.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/perdialogocarcere_post...

 

www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/56/fiore

 

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Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

  

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www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...

 

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The municipality of Mongiuffi Melia (ME), not far from Taormina, is made up of two villages, Mongiuffi and Melia, separated by a valley, a bridge joins them, they climb up the opposite ridge of two mountains, looking at each other; in this municipality (defined as a "scattered municipality" for not having a single inhabited center), there are two patron saints, San Sebastian for Melia (his float was built with the money collected by Sicilian soldiers sent to the front, to fight in Greece during the Second World War, hoping in this way to receive His intercession to save their lives), and San Leonard di Noblac (or Abbot) for Mongiuffi; but in this municipality there is also the cult of the "Virgin Mary of the Chain", whose sanctuary attracts pilgrims from everywhere. I have made this description to introduce a singular coincidence that not everyone is aware of, and to do this it is necessary to describe the figure of Saint Leonard (a kind of Saint Francis), and that of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, trying to be concise. Saint Leonard was born in Orléans around 496 (and died in Noblac, on November 6 – the feast day – of 545 or 559), and for most of his life (very interesting) he lived as a hermit; one episode of his life in particular I would like to recall, he received from Clovis, king of the Franks, the privilege of being able to free those prisoners, who he believed had been unjustly imprisoned, so from that moment on, he incessantly committed himself to giving freedom to all those prisoners who were reduced to visibly critical conditions. Let us leave this Saint for a moment, the cult of the “Virgin Mary of the Chain”, this name given to the Blessed Virgin, derives from a prodigious event that occurred in Palermo in 1392, known as the “miracle of the chains”. In short, in August 1392 in Palermo, three men for a glaring miscarriage of justice, were sentenced to death by hanging, shortly before going up to the gallows a violent storm broke out, which forced the three unfortunates and the gendarmes to take refuge in the nearby church of Saint Mary of the Port, close to the sea, also called "Churc of the Chain" due to the presence of a chain that, when positioned, prevented the Saracen pirate ships from accessing the inside of the port; in this holy place, the three condemned, were tied with double chains, in the meantime the door of the church was barred, in fact the storm did not seem to stop and in addition night had come, clearly the execution was now postponed to the next day. The three desperate men, in chains, under the gaze of the gendarmes, approached the painting of the Madonna in tears, imploring her to intercede for them, a voice was heard coming from the painting, which reassured them of their new freedom, this while the chains broke, and the door of the little church was thrown open. From then on, the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain spread from Palermo throughout Sicily, and even beyond. Now let's get to the coincidences I mentioned before, both Saint Leonard and the Virgin Mary of the Chain (and also Her Child that She holds in Her arms) carry a long chain in their hands, in fact both the Saint and the Blessed Virgin have given freedom to prisoners, furthermore to access Mongiuffi Melia, coming from Letojanni, you have to pass through a tunnel, called "Gallery of Postoleone" dug in the rock in 1916, with bare hands or with pickaxe blows, as explosives could not be used, by 300 Austrian prisoners, during the First World War (and also on this occasion, in Mongiuffi Melia, there are prisoners forced to do forced labor). Finally, a curiosity, very often from the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, comes a singular name, very common in these parts, both in the masculine with the name of "Cateno" and in the feminine "Catena" (to quote a well-known character, the writer Catena Fiorello). Furthermore, if it rains, whatever the religious procession-feast, with the float carried on the shoulders, the float with the saint does not come out, but if the rain arrives during the event, then the event becomes a source of strong psycho-physical stress for the devotee-bearers (not for the devotee-pullers or devotee-pushers...), as the ground made slippery by the rain (or perhaps, worse, by the presence of mud mixed with water) makes the route risky due to the possibility that one, or more, bearers, could slip, with the possible overturning of the float, and easily imaginable consequences.

The photographic story that I present here was created by assembling photographs taken on November 6, 2022, November 6 and 10 of this year 2024; the heart of the celebration-procession is when the priest hangs a large “cuddurra” (donut) on the hand of Sint Leonard, on that occasion small “cuddure” (donuts) are offered to the population (prepared by hand in the days preceding the procession); there are girls wearing a typical monk's habit-like dress, adorning their head with a veil, they belong to the congregation of the "daughters of Mary" (third order Carmelite); at the end of the procession, with the float that has returned to the church, we witness a rite that has the "affective" purpose of keeping it alive, it is done so as not to lose its memory, even if it has not lost its original meaning, what remains is now only a symbolic fact, it is the ritual of "weighing" (in some centers of Sicily, it has maintained its original meaning) a wooden board is placed "in balance" on one of the two beams that are used to carry the float with the Saint on the shoulders, at the two ends a child is placed on one side, and on the other side a sack with grain, filled until the weight of the grain reaches the weight of the child, and that grain will be given as a gift to the Saint, in reality the symbolic aspect of the procedure remains, and the donation is still made to the Saint, but in paper money.

Postscript: Our Lady of the Chain and Saint Leonard freed from chains, these as such, are not only physical, there are also psychic ones, and perhaps they are the worst….

 

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Il comune di Mongiuffi Melia (ME), non molto distante da Taormina, è formato da due borghi, Mongiuffi e Melia, separati da una vallata, un ponte li congiunge, essi si inerpicano sul crinale opposto di due monti, guardandosi l’un l’altro; in questo comune (definito “comune sparso” per non avere un centro abitato unico), si hanno due santi patroni, San Sebastiano per Melia (la sua vara fu costruita con i soldi racimolati dai soldati Siciliani mandati al fronte, a combattere in Grecia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, sperando così facendo di ricevere la Sua intercessione per avere salva la vita), e San Leonardo di Noblac (o Abate) per Mongiuffi; ma in questo comune vi è anche il culto per la “Madonna della Catena”, il cui santuario attira pellegrini da ogni dove. Ho fatto questa descrizione, per introdurre una singolare coincidenza della quale non tutti sono a conoscenza, e per far questo è necessario descrivere la figura di San Leonardo (una specie di San Francesco), e quella della Madonna della Catena, cercando di essere sintetico. San Leonardo nasce ad Orléans nel 496 circa (e morto a Noblac, il 6 novembre – giorno della festa – del 545 o 559), per gran parte della sua vita (interessantissima) visse da eremita; un episodio della sua vita in particolare desidero ricordare, egli riceve da Clodoveo, re dei Franchi, il privilegio di poter rendere liberi quei prigionieri, che egli riteneva fossero stati incarcerati ingiustamente, egli così, da quel momento, si impegna incessantemente a dare la libertà a tutti quei prigionieri che erano ridotti in condizioni visibilmente critiche. Lasciamo per un attimo questo Santo, il culto della “Madonna della Catena”, questo nome dato alla Beata Vergine, deriva da un evento prodigioso avvenuto a Palermo nel 1392, conosciuto come “miracolo delle catene”. In breve, nell’agosto del 1392 a Palermo, tre uomini per un eclatante errore giudiziario, furono condannati a morte per impiccagione, poco prima di salire sul patibolo si scatenò un violento temporale, che costrinse i tre malcapitati ed i gendarmi a riparare nella vicina chiesa di S. Maria del Porto, a ridosso del mare, detta anche “Chiesa della Catena” per la presenza di una catena che, quando posizionata, impediva alle navi pirata Saracene di accedere all’interno del porto; in questo luogo santo, i tre condannati, furono legati con doppie catene, nel mentre la porta della chiesa veniva sbarrata, infatti il temporale non accennava a smettere ed in più era subentrata la notte, chiaramente l’esecuzione era oramai rimandata al giorno dopo. I tre disperati, in catene, sotto lo sguardo dei gendarmi, si avvicinarono in lacrime al quadro della Madonna implorandola di intercedere per loro, dal quadro si udì provenire una voce, che li rassicurava sulla sopraggiunta libertà, questo mentre le catene si spezzavano, e la porta della chiesetta si spalancava. Da allora il culto per la Madonna della Catena si diffuse da Palermo in tutta la Sicilia, ed anche oltre. Veniamo adesso alle coincidenze di cui accennavo prima, sia San Leonardo che la Madonna della Catena (ed anche il suo Bimbo che regge in braccio) recano in mano una lunga catena, infatti sia San Leonardo che la Beata Vergine hanno dato la liberà a dei prigionieri, inoltre per accedere a Mongiuffi Melia, provenendo da Letojanni, si deve passare necessariamente da una galleria, chiamata “Galleria di Postoleone” scavata nel 1916 nella roccia, a mani nude o con colpi di piccone, in quanto non si poteva usare l’esplosivo, da parte di 300 prigionieri austriaci, durante la prima guerra mondiale (ed anche in questa occasione, a Mongiuffi Melia, si ha la presenza di prigionieri costretti ai lavori forzati). Infine una curiosità, molto spesso dal culto della Madonna della Catena, proviene un singolare nome, molto comune da queste parti, sia al maschile col nome di “Cateno” che al femminile, “Catena” (per citare un personaggio noto, la scrittrice Catena Fiorello). Inoltre, se piove, qualsiasi sia la processione-festa religiosa, con la vara portata in spalla, la vara col santo non esce, se invece la pioggia arriva durante la manifestazione, allora l’evento acquista per i devoti-portatori (non per i devoti-tiratori o devoti-spingitori…) un motivo di forte stress psico-fisico, in quanto il terreno reso scivoloso dalla pioggia (o magari, peggio, dalla presenza di fango misto ad acqua) rende rischioso il percorso per la possibilità che uno, o più portatori, possano scivolare, con il possibile ribaltamento della vara, e conseguenze facilmente immaginabili.

Il racconto fotografico che qui presento, è stato realizzato assemblando fotografie fatte il 6 novembre del 2022, il 6 ed il 10 novembre di quest’anno 2024; il fulcro della festa-processione è quando il sacerdote appende una grande cuddurra (ciambella) sulla mano di San Leonardo, in quella occasione piccole cuddure vengono offerte alla popolazione (preparate ed intrecciate a mano nei giorni precedenti la processione); sono presenti delle ragazze che indossano un tipico vestito “tipo saio di monaco”, adornando il capo con un velo, appartengono alla congregazione delle “figlie di Maria” (terz’ordine carmelitano); alla fine della processione, con la vara che ha fatto rientro in chiesa, si assiste ad un rito che ha lo scopo “affettivo” di tenerlo in vita, viene fatto per non disperderne la memoria, pur non avendo perso il suo significato originario, quel che resta è oramai solamente un fatto simbolico, è il rito della “pesatura” (in alcuni centri della Sicilia, esso ha mantenuto il suo significato originario) un asse di legno viene messo “in equilibrio” su di una delle due travi che servono a portare in spalla la vara col Santo, alle due estremità si pongono da un lato un bimbo/a, e dall’altro lato un sacco con del grano, riempito fino a quando il peso del grano raggiungerà il peso del bimbo/a, e quel grano verrà dato in dono al Santo, in realtà resta l’aspetto simbolico della procedura, la donazione viene ugualmente fatta al Santo, ma in cartamoneta.

P.S. La Madonna della Catena e San Leonardo liberavano dalle catene, queste in quanto tali, non sono solo fisiche, ci sono anche quelle psichiche, e forse sono le peggiori….

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[Español abajo :)] - Matryoshka doll (Russian doll).

 

For a while I was a marketing manager for the North Europe region in a multinational technology company. It was a job I enjoyed because of working with people from other countries and for the occasional opportunities to travel.

 

This Russian stacking doll was bought on one of the trips to Finland. The Finns are interesting folk. Just like their language, they are a totally different people group to any other European one, and definitely not Russian! They can appear dour and grim as befits their climate, but I always found them friendly and hospitable.

 

Finns have a strange, virtually incomprehensible sense of humour. The best way I can describe it is to say that it is drier than arid, and for a dry-witted Englishman that is saying something!

 

Ah... In this world of unintended consequences, I can tell my viewer would now like to hear a Finnish joke. Well first gather your group of Finns, and then tell them this story:

 

‘Once a man was fishing in the centre of a remote lake sitting by a hole in the ice. There was then a very rare occurrence. Another man came in sight.

Seeing the fisherman the visitor walked over and sat down beside him in silence. Three hours later they were still sitting there and not a word had been spoken.

Eventually the visitor spoke, “Why are you fishing here?” he asked. The fisherman paused and then replied, “To catch fish.”’

At which point your Finnish audience will fall about laughing uncontrollably…

 

The really worrying thing is, now that many years have passed I actually appreciate why it’s funny. By you have to understand the Finnish mindset :)

 

The trip started at Helsinki but mainly consisted of an overnight boat trip to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia on the other, southern side of the Baltic. Ostensibly it was for a product update from me and others but everyone knew the real agenda: to get into International waters so the draconian Finnish alcohol taxes could be ignored and for the clients to get wildly drunk.

 

And drunk they did get. My, how they did!

 

I have been in drinking groups before but never have I seen a group of people drink so much and then walk on two legs the day after. We congregated for dinner and folk had had three double shots of vodka before the starters were served… and then it went on like that for eight hours…

 

Well, a pint and a half of beer and 37 Cokes later I arrived in Tallinn.

 

Tallinn is a lovely city. The old town is a very typical North European walled city (not Russian) built on a hill. But it is surrounded by grim grey Soviet-era tenement blocks that fill the suburbs.

 

On one of the cobbled streets as I walked up to the top I found a lovely little shop that specialised in these Russian nested dolls. There were dozens of different types all in different designs. Most of them stack three to seven deep with each doll twisting apart to reveal the smaller one within.

 

I bought this one as a memento of the visit, and for the joy of seeing the smile of delight on my young daughter’s face when she saw it taken apart on my return. This one appealed because it wasn’t in the bright glossy colours that characterised most of the tourist ones. Instead it was fashioned in matt wood, carved then marked with a hot iron and finally gilded. It seemed more authentic.

 

This is the smallest and largest of the 5 doll set. Taken for the 2DWF group’s Two Together theme.

 

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image! Happy 2DWF :)

 

[Set on wooden pastry board with green card background. Sidelit in daylight. Tripod mount; manual focus in Live Mode; remote trigger.

Processed in Capture One for colour.

Unsharp Mask and dark vignette in Affinity Photo and that’s about it :)]

 

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Muñeca matryoshka (muñeca rusa).

 

Durante un tiempo fui gerente de marketing para la región del norte de Europa en una empresa multinacional de tecnología. Fue un trabajo que disfruté por trabajar con personas de otros países y por las oportunidades ocasionales de viajar.

 

Esta muñeca rusa de apilamiento fue comprada en uno de los viajes a Finlandia. Los finlandeses son gente interesante. Al igual que su idioma, son un grupo de personas totalmente diferente a cualquier otro europeo, ¡y definitivamente no son rusos! Pueden parecer severos y sombríos como corresponde a su clima, pero siempre los encontré amigables y hospitalarios.

 

Los finlandeses tienen un extraño y virtualmente incomprensible sentido del humor. ¡La mejor manera de describirlo es decir que es más seco que árido, y para un inglés ingenuo que está diciendo algo!

 

Ah ... En este mundo de consecuencias no deseadas, puedo decirle a mi espectador que le gustaría escuchar una broma finlandesa. Bueno, primero reúna a su grupo de finlandeses y luego cuénteles esta historia:

 

"Una vez un hombre estaba pescando en el centro de un lago remoto sentado junto a un agujero en el hielo. Hubo entonces una ocurrencia muy rara. Otro hombre apareció a la vista.

Al ver al pescador, el visitante se acercó y se sentó a su lado en silencio. Tres horas más tarde todavía estaban sentados allí y no se había dicho una sola palabra.

Finalmente, el visitante habló: "¿Por qué estás pescando aquí?", Preguntó. El pescador hizo una pausa y luego respondió: "Para atrapar peces".

En qué punto su audiencia finlandesa caerá sobre la risa incontrolable ...

 

Lo realmente preocupante es que, ahora que han pasado muchos años, realmente aprecio por qué es gracioso. Por que tienes que entender la mentalidad finlandesa :)

 

El viaje comenzó en Helsinki, pero consistió principalmente en un viaje nocturno en barco a Tallin, la capital de Estonia en el otro lado sur del Báltico. Aparentemente fue para una actualización del producto de mi parte y de otros, pero todos sabían la verdadera agenda: entrar en aguas internacionales para que los impuestos draconianos del alcohol finlandés pudieran ser ignorados y para que los clientes se emborrachen violentamente.

 

Y borrachos se pusieron. ¡Mí, cómo lo hicieron!

 

He estado en grupos de bebedores antes, pero nunca he visto a un grupo de personas beber tanto y luego caminar con las dos piernas al día siguiente. Nos reunimos para la cena y la gente había tenido tres tragos dobles de vodka antes de que se sirvieran los entrantes ... y luego siguió así durante ocho horas ...

 

Bueno, una pinta y media de cerveza y 37 Coca Colas más tarde llegué a Tallin.

 

Tallin es una ciudad encantadora. El casco antiguo es una ciudad amurallada muy típica del norte de Europa (no rusa) construida sobre una colina. Pero está rodeado de sombríos bloques de viviendas de la era soviética que llenan los suburbios.

 

En una de las calles empedradas, mientras caminaba hacia la cima, encontré una pequeña tienda encantadora que se especializaba en estas muñecas rusas anidadas. Había docenas de diferentes tipos, todos en diferentes diseños. La mayoría de ellos apilan de tres a siete de profundidad con cada muñeca separándose para revelar la más pequeña dentro.

 

Compré este como un recuerdo de la visita, y por la alegría de ver la sonrisa de alegría en el rostro de mi hija cuando la vi destrozada a mi regreso. Este apeló porque no estaba en los brillantes colores brillantes que caracterizaban a la mayoría de los turistas. En su lugar, fue fabricado en madera mate, tallado, luego marcado con un hierro caliente y finalmente dorado. Parecía más auténtico.

 

Este es el más pequeño y el más grande de los 5 juegos de muñecas. Tomado para el equipo Two Together del grupo 2DWF.

 

Gracias por tomarse el tiempo para mirar. Espero que disfrutes la imagen! Feliz 2DWF :)

 

[Establecer en el tablero de pastelería de madera con fondo de tarjeta verde. Sidelit a la luz del día. Montura trípode; enfoque manual en el modo en vivo; disparador remoto.

Procesado en Capture One para color.

Unsharp Mask y una viñeta oscura en Affinity Photo y eso es todo :)]

Twice, now, my family has made the drive from Richmond, VA, to Wauwatosa, WI. On the way up we drive through a massive wind farm in Jasper County, IN. My jaw drops and I squeal like a little kid with wonder at these behemoths. So this summer I finally stopped on the way back and took some photos.

I broke the first rule of photography yesterday. CLEAN your lens. I spent the entire day out taking shots with this splotch just above the mid line of my lens and as a consequence, many shots are unusable. Nevertheless, I did come away with some that are so-so.

 

Fooling around with Macro...

To view more of my images, of aircraft, please click

"here" !

 

I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites; thank you!

 

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be a popular aircraft, with approximately 53 Spitfires being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums all over the world. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants. During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the Spitfire was perceived by the public to be the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe. However, because of its higher performance, Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes. After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW); as a consequence of this the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved, sometimes dramatically, over the course of its life. R. J. Mitchell's 1931 design to meet Air Ministry specification F7/30 for a new and modern fighter capable of 250 mph (400 km/h), the Supermarine Type 224, was an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull-wings and a large fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600 horsepower (450 kW) evaporatively cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. This made its first flight in February 1934. The Type 224 was a big disappointment to Mitchell and his design team, who immediately embarked on a series of "cleaned-up" designs, using their experience with the Schneider Trophy seaplanes as a starting point. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service. Mitchell had already begun working on a new aircraft, designated Type 300, with a retractable undercarriage and the wingspan reduced by 6 ft (1.8 m). This was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but was not accepted. The design then went through a series of changes, including the incorporation of a faired, enclosed cockpit, oxygen-breathing apparatus, smaller and thinner wings, and the newly developed, more powerful Rolls-Royce PV-XII V-12 engine, later named the "Merlin". In November 1934 Mitchell, with the backing of Supermarine's owner, Vickers-Armstrong, started detailed design work on this refined version of the Type 300 and, on 1 December 1934, the Air Ministry issued contract AM 361140/34, providing £10,000 for the construction of Mitchell's improved F7/30 design. On 3 January 1935, the Air Ministry formalised the contract and a new specification, F10/35, was written around the aircraft.

“So what is your story?” Nahla asked while idly and in bored fashion flipped through a random book sitting upon one of the desks.

 

“I’m just an Elf.” Solarawen replied, eyes shifted slightly over her left shoulder to the tiefling. “Don’t touch that.”

 

“Well, to look at you one would guess that but there is something a bit more about you. I see the scars along your shoulders and hands, what caused those?” Of course not listening to being told to stop touching things, she continued to flip through the pages while plopped into one of the not so comfortable wooden chairs. A soft protest of a squeak came from her shoulder where a small primate did it’s best to hide from the large white owl upon the elf's shoulder. Though Thalk’s golden eyes never left the small morsel’s position. Solarawen closed the book she had in her hands, a hesitant glance at the scars spoken of before she placed the book back and pulled another. “I mean, if I am going to be doing work for you the least you could do is give me a little information.”

 

“Information you would then turn and sell to someone else? After I am paying you gold to give me information on others?” Her tone did not sound accusatory, in fact it was rather even and blase throughout most of the conversations Nahla had with her.

 

“Gold is easy for me to come by,” A slight wave of the tiefling’s hand to dismiss the idea. “I’m curious and want a story instead. Your story. I mean, it isn’t like anyone is going to ask about you. No one even knows you yet nor do they probably care to. You’re just some random student so far. And even if they did, What would I tell them? A pretty elf had some curiosity but lacked the social skills to get to know them? I’d probably die and your story would die with me in the process of asking around. So why not? It is all the payment I am asking for. I’d say that is fair.” There was a sigh, that caused a smirk to curl on Nahla’s lips. She knew that sigh well enough to know she was about to get what was asked for.

 

A clap of the book and Solarawen turned around walking over to the table with an expression that Nahla couldn’t quite read. It wasn’t exactly annoyance nor was it amusement. In fact, something about it seemed almost sinister or devious in a way. That couldn’t be right, elves weren’t like that. So she thought.

 

“So what do you want to know?” The question posed as she settled down in a chair across the table. “About the scars? Or about where I am from? You have my name and my general information already. What is it you so desire that you would refuse gold in turn?” The tiefling licked her lips and leaned forward. The book in front of her was already forgotten and shoved to the wayside.

 

“Tell me about the scars. I’ve not seen scars like those before. How did you get them?”

 

“By meddling in magic before I was ready.” Nahla’s eyes squinted at the answer.

 

“Come on… More details, please.” Another sigh and the tiefling’s smile would grow to show her pointed teeth.

 

“When I was young I fell in love with a male who, in turn, fell in lust with me. All he wanted to do was have relations. Meanwhile I was trying to think of a future we both could have. Perhaps the naive nature of a younger self. While he was feeling me up, I was planning children and a home. I was daydreaming about how the introduction of him to my family would go. While that introduction got postponed time and time again. His choice of course. Until it could no longer be postponed because I was with a child.” Nahla raised a brow but was now intently listening.

 

“Everyone in Silverymoon knows my family are purists. Only elven blood in the family. As it turned out, my… choice in a male partner was not full elven blooded. He knew this of course, but chose to have his fun and when it came to the consequences… Well, he did not want to face the wrath of my mother for a child that would be… impure.” By this point of the story Nahla’s features changed slightly. Brows furrowed and head tilted with a hint of confusion in the expression on her face. She’d never heard of such a thing. The elves she had met throughout her life, at least the ones above ground, seemed to be tolerant if not loving of all life.

 

“So, this… partial elf decided that instead of facing down life as an outcast with me… because I would be exiled due to my child of course and lose everything. He decided to attempt to erase his mistake. To defend myself and my child I attempted to protect myself with magic I had not yet mastered. My mother caught us in the midst of battle and threw a chain lightning spell. She couldn’t have known what it would have done. At least I tell myself that. She was just trying to separate us. It killed him.” Solarawen nodded slightly. “And the baby. It went through one of my hands and out the other, which is where these scars came from. Instead of having me healed she insisted that the marks be left as a lesson. To what, I am not sure of. She claimed to not attempt magic without properly studying it first. Of which is true, had I studied it things might have gone differently. I might have chosen different spells or just misty stepped away and escaped with my and my baby’s life.” There was an awkward silence that followed before Solarawen stood back up and returned to the shelves she had been looking through already.

 

“I’m so sorry, Solarawen…”

 

“Don’t be. You now know I am not a simple naive elven maiden. Now, to business. I want to know of all the deity priests and priestesses within waterdeep. Just general information. I am not one for detailed stories.”

 

“As you wish.” Nahla stood up and brushed herself off. Though she agreed to it, she most likely would not seek out Solarawen again. Something about her didn’t seem right, and that instinct was what kept the orange haired tiefling intact for most of her life thus far. “You’ve a pleasant evening.” A polite bow of her horned head as she started to make her way out of the tower library. Thalk’s golden eyes stayed upon her and her little friend until they rounded the corner of a bookshelf.

 

“You too.” Solarawen muttered into yet another book. She was not a fool. She knew she’d never see the tiefling again. She’d have to find another way to gather information.

 

Explored!

 

This one is inspired by Gregory Crewdson and his use of light, and the way he sets up cinematic scenes. I did a recent inspiration bit with him on my site.

 

It was about 10pm at night when I did this. The setup is the westcott apollo softbox outside the shutters set to about 3/4 power on the canon 430exii, Lumiquest LTP softbox camera right and about 6 foot high on my tripod set to about 1/2 power on the canon 430exii. Settings are f/8, 1/125 (to block out any ambient light), ISO 1600 (so I could use f/8). There's also a reflector behind me to bounce some more light on me. The drink is actually water with a splash of coffee for color. This is a composite shot, one of me sitting, then another of me laying on the ground.

 

I hope to play with more lighting setups like this because they tie in my love for movies :D

 

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This image is of the Forster - Tuncurry ferry unloading a caravan at the Tuncurry ramp in the mid 1950s.

 

More Forster Ferry images are contained in the ALBUM Forster - Tuncurry Ferry

 

A recent publication written by Chris Borough covering the Forster Ferry Service has been published by the Great Lakes Historical Society, Tuncurry

www.flickr.com/photos/glmrsnsw/27134338901/in/album-72157...

 

Prior to the construction of a bridge in July 1959, crossing Cape Hawke Harbour at the mouth of Wallis Lake required vehicles to use the punt service that operated between Tuncurry and Forster. Most vehicular punts in NSW operated independently using cables. The Forster-Tuncurry punts, however, were close-coupled to a motor launch as shifting sandbanks had to be negotiated to make the crossing between the two towns.

 

The first of three punts that were used to provide the service commenced operation in late 1924 and remained in continuous service for nine years. This small punt was replaced in 1933 with a larger punt that was widened by two feet in 1935. The original was retained as a backup until a third and still larger punt was introduced in late 1938. That third punt began operation on Christmas Eve 1938 with the punt that was widened in 1935 kept in reserve. Both remained in service until the opening of the Forster – Tuncurry bridge.

 

Prior to 1924, regular ferry services operated, but only for passengers. The first commenced operation by July 1890 with an open rowing boat conveying passengers (and a sulky if needed). The demand for a proper ferry service was strong. In 1905 a petition from Forster residents asked the Government to establish an oil-launch ferry service between Tuncurry and Forster, instead of the boat ferry, which was totally inadequate…(SMH Friday 10 November 1905).

 

By 1907, travellers from Bungwahl could pick up the ferry service provided by an oil launch at the southern edge of Wallis Lake (Charlotte Bay), that would drop them either at Forster or Tuncurry (SMH 26th October 1907). A regular passenger ferry service was also being operated that year by an oil launch running between Forster and Tuncurry, conveying passengers for a 1d return fare (SMH 26th Oct 1907).

 

Horses, however, still had to be swum across (Maitland Daily Mercury 4th May 1909) . We left our horses and vehicles at Tuncurry and crossed over to Forster in the ferry. During the day the rest of the party employed themselves in swimming the horses across the river and floating the buggies over in boats, and had quite an exciting and arduous time. One of Mr. Bramble's horses was too scared to swim, and was nearly drowned. One of the boats, with a sulky on board, got aground, and took some time to get off.

 

It was not until February 1924 that Manning Shire Council granted permission for Charlie Blows to provide and operate a combined private passenger and car punt service between Tuncurry and Forster (SMH 22nd Feb 1924). Blows undertook to build and maintain the approaches, as well as provide a vehicular ferry, capable of carrying three and a half to four tons (SMH 22 Feb 1924). Blows’ punt service began operations in November 1924 - Mr. Chas. Blows has installed a new vehicular ferry between Tuncurry and Forster. As a consequence, motor cars are now a common sight at Forster (Dungog Chronicle 18 November 1924.)

 

Howard (1995) records that Blows had Tuncurry boat-builder, Dave Williams build both a small punt and a launch (commonly, but somewhat misleadingly, termed a “tow” launch) to propel same. No details of the punt and its construction have been located but a newspaper report appears to confirm that it was constructed specifically for the operation. This is a direct road to Newcastle by car, and is considerably shorter than any other road from Forster to Sydney. It will be largely used for through traffic when the vehicle ferry, which has been sanctioned and is now being constructed, is running between Tuncurry and Forster across Wallamba River (SMH 15th April 1924).

 

With a load capacity of around 4 tons, it is estimated that Blows’ punt was 22 feet in length. It was able to transport one large car or two very small cars, end to end. The launch, originally named the Glen, was fitted with a 7 h.p. Kelvin engine; she was quickly re-named the Kelvin Glen by locals and this became her registered name.

 

Although the passenger service was subsidised by the Local Government Department, it was an expensive exercise to have a vehicle conveyed on the privately owned punt. Foot passengers were able to travel for free, however, for a one-way trip cars were charged 2/6, lorries 4/-, and horse-drawn vehicles 1/6. To put these fares in context, the average weekly wage in 1930 was £7 per week making a return journey by car of 5/- one fifth of a day’s wages. Any additional trips incurred fares for foot passengers, with one visitor complaining that he was forced to pay 1/- to get the “free” ferry from Tuncurry to take him the extra 150 yards from the terminus at Forster to the local hotel.

 

Prior to 1930, shipping was generally able to navigate key areas within Cape Hawke Harbour and the punt was usually able to cross readily between the two towns. In 1930, however, the NSW Government decided to remove the sand-pumping dredge “Forster” from the district after some thirty years of continuous service. Despite numerous representations, there was no sand-pumping between 1930 and 1938.

 

By 1930 there had already been general recognition that the private vehicular ferry service was unduly limited in terms of capacity and cost. In 1931 The Maitland Daily Mercury (23 February) reported: One of the biggest demonstrations of public protest in the history of Cape Hawke was witnessed last Saturday night at the Forster Hall when a most representative gathering assembled to express its disapproval of the manner in which the Stroud and Manning Shire Councils are dilly dallying with the question of the Forster Tuncurry Ferry Service. The meeting had been convened by the Progress Associations of Forster and Tuncurry to voice their dissatisfaction of both Councils, in not carrying into vogue the dictum put forth by the Minister for Local Government in July last, that the vehicular ferry that serves the two towns should be absolutely free and that the existing charges be abolished.

 

A visitor to Tuncurry recalled his experience (Dungog Chronicle: 9 February 1932) “In the morning we crossed the quarter mile or so of water round the sandbanks to Forster. The punt is a two-car one, and is towed over by C. Blows, who runs the free ferry for foot passengers. It cost 2/6 each way for the car, and thereby hangs a confession. I forgot to pay when going back, and Charlie Blows did not remind me.”

 

After years of wrangling between the Stroud and Manning Shire Councils and the Transport Commission (formerly the Main Roads Board and by the end of 1932 the Main Roads Department), it was decided to terminate the private ferry service and have a replacement punt provided by Manning Shire Council. A suggestion in 1932 to lengthen Blows’ punt was not followed up and before the year was out it was found that a thirty to forty year old punt that had been operating on the Manning River was available to be relocated. The cost of having the punt transported to Forster and its operation were to be shared by the three statutory bodies. Tenders to provide a launch and operate the new punt service were called and on June 30th 1933 the successful tenderer, Frederick Parsons was announced. Fred’s bid of £375/annum was the lowest. Because the new punt was some ten feet longer than the Blows’ punt (32 ft vs approx. 22 ft), and it could carry three small cars or two large cars and had a load capacity of 6 tons, a more powerful launch was required.

 

Blows’ contract with the original punt was extended until 17th October 1933 when Parsons finally began operations with his new launch and the council supplied punt (Howard 2009). The modern and powerful launch - the Pacific was built by Frank Avery. As reported (Dungog Chronicle 7 November 1933). The new ferry service which is now in the control of Mr. Fred Parsons has had its baptism; and the little difficulties that might be expected at the outset with the most experienced have been surmounted. Mr. Parsons' new launch has a length of 28 feet, a beam of 8 feet and a depth of 3 feet moulded. All timbers and stringers are of spotted gum, with beech planking. The launch is copper fastened and is fitted with water tight bulk heads according to the regulations of the Navigation Department. It is fitted with an 18h.p. Lister-Diesel engine and is a great credit to the builder, Mr Frank Avery, of Tuncurry. The most pleasing aspect of the new service, of course, is the substantial reduction in the charges for cars and other vehicles, as compared with the former contract. Previously, to convey a car across from Forster to Tuncurry cost 2/6; the new charge is 1/-. The new rate has already been responsible for increased traffic, as many people hesitated to come across and back when it involved a toll of 5/-.

 

In 1935 the Department of Main Roads and the two Councils involved in providing the service agreed to have the punt widened by 2ft to enable cars to be parked side by side and thus allow four vehicles to be carried at one time. Well respected boat-builder, Henry Miles, was contracted to do the job. As reported in the Dungog Chronicle Tuesday 26 November 1935; There will be general jubilation at the news that the ferry which plies, between Forster and Tuncurry is to be enlarged, says the Taree Times. Under a triple authority (Main Roads Board, Manning and Stroud Shires) it takes time to finalise things like this, but it has been done. The ferry is to be widened to take four cars, two abreast. The work has been entrusted to that well-known and expert shipbuilder, Mr. Harry [Henry] Miles, of Forster, and when he finishes with it there will be no complaints, for Mr. Miles does his work one way — thoroughly. It is intended to split the ferry from end to end and put in another 2ft., which will ensure that the ferry will then accommodate two of the biggest cars abreast, which was not possible in the past. It is expected that the ferry will go on the slip on Thursday next, and be off in two or three weeks. In the meantime traffic will be maintained as usual, Mr. Charlie Blows' punt having been engaged for the purpose.

 

A year later and a minor crisis: Blow’s old punt that was put into service as a temporary measure while the new punt was being overhauled, sank. The Dungog Chronicle (Tuesday 17 November 1936) reported: - Vehicular traffic between Tuncurry and Forster was held up from about 1 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon until 4 on Thursday afternoon. The new contract for this service is to commence at the beginning of December, and the ferry in general use was put on Mr. Henry Miles' slip on Tuesday to undergo the usual overhaul before commencing on the new contract. The old punt with which Mr. Charlie Blows inaugurated the service [in 1924] was requisitioned and started in the service about 2 on Tuesday afternoon. All went well until about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, while the ferry was tied up on the Tuncurry side, a Chev. lorry, loaded with skimmed milk from the Tuncurry butter factory, boarded the ferry. At the same time the driver of a car wanted to cross and the ferry man asked the man in charge of the lorry to move it over to the side a little more than it was. When this was done one corner of the punt developed a list, which in turn gave the lorry, and its contents, a list, with the result that the corner of the punt went under water and quickly submerged. The lorry was also under water. The services of another lorry were engaged to pull it out. Later in the day the ferry was raised and removed to Mr. Miles' slip, for examination and repairs if necessary . A grainy photograph of the accident scene that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (4 November 1936) suggests that the small punt may have needed more than just minor repairs.

 

By early 1937, Manning Shire Council was well aware of public concerns with the safety of the service (Dungog Chronicle Friday 21 May 1937). Council was advised that in October 1936 the punt had grounded on a sand bank and been carried quite some distance after it was re-floated; the anchor being unable to hold. At the time, the Press had reported that the method of transport was entirely out of date and that it had caused a wave of fear amongst the public.

 

The Council was well aware that it’s widened 32ft long punt simply couldn't cope with the sheer volume of traffic that was presenting during the annual holiday season and had thus reached its use-by date. As a result, a formal proposal was made to the Department of Main Roads for the purchase of an additional 4-car punt to facilitate the provision of a permanent two punt service; the Department formally declined the proposal on 2 September 1937. (SMH 14 January 1938). Council subsequently decided to try and rent or buy a replacement punt and in October 1937 an advertisement that sought the lease of a punt for three months over the summer season appeared in the press (Newcastle Morning Herald Saturday 23 October 1937). Unable to rent or buy a replacement punt, however, the decision was made to have a replacement built. Initial plans for a new punt were submitted to the DMR on 23rd November 1937 (SMH 14 January 1938).

 

With the wheels of the bureaucracy slowly turning, matters regarding the punt service went from bad to worse. The punt that had commenced operation in 1933 and was widened by Henry Miles in 1935, sunk spectacularly on 5th January 1938. The report from the Dungog Chronicle of Tuesday 11 January 1938 described the fact that a drowning fatality was avoided, as a miracle! On the punt was Joe Fazio’s bus with twelve passengers aboard, a sedan car with five passengers and a truck. As soon as the punt took off from the wharf at around 8 am the nose of the punt dipped and it seemed likely that the punt would capsize. The passengers in the car climbed onto the roof of the bus and finally all passengers escaped via the ferry to shore. This event created an outcry for the replacement of the existing ferry with a larger and more dependable ferry service.

 

The public relations debacle appears to have jolted the bureaucrats into action and tenders for the construction of a 40 foot punt were called in 1938 (SMH Friday 4 March 1938). It took, however, until September that year for the Councils to secure the services of Frank Avery to supervise the construction of a new punt using day labour (Dungog Chronicle: Friday 16 September 1938). The new service was launched on 24th December 1938, just in time for the holiday season (Dungog Chronicle Tuesday 24 January 1939).

 

Although the load limit for the new punt was raised to ten tons in 1939, officially it was still only able to handle four cars – a point made clearly by the NRMA (The Maitland Daily Mercury Friday 10 February 1939): “An N.R.M.A. country inspector who recently travelled over the coastal route from Bulahdelah to Taree by way of Forster and Tuncurry. Commenting on the new punt between Forster and Tuncurry, the Association says that there is little improvement on the old vehicle. The new vessel accommodates four cars and is towed by a motor launch. Thus the journey from one side of the lake to the other takes just as long now as when the old punt was operating.”.

 

The four car service was propelled by the Pacific until 1st July 1940 when Wylie Gregory won the tender to provide the service. He arranged for Forster boatbuilder, Dave Williams to build a heavy-duty low-line boat - the Britannia - or alternatively spelled Brittania (Howard 1995). The war years, however, soon started to impact on Wylie’s operations. In August 1941 he advised Manning Shire Council that he would terminate his contract in view of decreased traffic owing to petrol rationing. Negotiations followed that resulted in Wylie continuing the operation under changed conditions.

 

On 1st June 1947 the tender for the vehicle ferry service was won by H.M. Cooke of Forster and it appears that he purchased the Brittania from Gregory, On 15th June 1949 the contract was won by C.A. Blows and Sons. The Brittania was purchased from Cooke, but almost immediately the firm contracted Alf Jahnsen and Leo Royan to build a new launch, the Monterey - named after the local cafe ran by Charlie Blows. In the 1950s the availability of two launches and two punts allowed considerable flexibility for the management of the service. Although the punt that was widened in 1935 was initially only retained as a back-up, with the availability of a second launch, sanity eventually prevailed and the old punt was brought out of mothballs each summer so that a two punt service could be provided during the peak holiday season.

 

Despite the last punt (built in 1938) being described as only having a capacity to carry four cars, it is commonly believed to have had a capacity to convey six cars. Indeed there are photos in Philip Howard's book showing six cars squeezed onto the punt with vehicles partly standing on the rear ramp with the rear gates open. Graham Nicholson (personal communication) recalls many occasions when six vehicles were squeezed onto the ferry and the front and rear gates "closed" accordingly – possibly not by the book, but effective!

 

Punt operations ceased with the opening of the Forster-Tuncurry bridge on July 18th 1959. So ended the service once memorably described: "It must be the most antedated, most unreliable and unsafe method of crossing a river anywhere in Australia." (SMH Friday 5 November 1954)

 

Image Source - Steve Bolin Collection

 

References - Howard, P. (1995). The ferrymen: the history of the Forster-Tuncurry passenger and vehicular ferry service from 1890 to 1959 - by Philip Howard.

 

Acknowledgements. Chris Borough and Ron Madden undertook the detailed research that was the basis for this contribution.

 

All Images in this photostream are Copyright - Great Lakes Manning River Shipping and/or their individual owners as may be stated above and may not be downloaded, reproduced, or used in any way without prior written approval.

 

GREAT LAKES MANNING RIVER SHIPPING, NSW - Flickr Group --> Alphabetical Boat Index --> Boat builders Index --> Tags List

[love and consequences]

 

photo take for setteperuno.

colours looks better on black.

 

|| web site || blog (ITA) || twitter || facebook ||

 

© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.

Berlin boasts two zoological gardens, a consequence of decades of political and administrative division of the city. The older one, called Zoo Berlin, founded in 1844, is situated in what is now called "City West". It is the most species-rich zoo worldwide. The other one, called Tierpark Berlin ("Animal Park"), was established on the long abandoned premises of Friedrichsfelde Palace Park in the eastern borough of Lichtenberg, in 1954. Covering 160 ha, it is the largest landcape zoo in Europe.

Leicaflex SL

50mm Summicron

Agfa Vista 200

 

Banes Grove, Floral City, FL

 

The law doesn't mess around when it comes to protecting agricultural crops.

 

I really like the vintage look of this film and it turned out to be a pleasing choice for old Florida subjects. I say "choice", but it wasn't a conscious decision as I was shooting a borrowed camera loaded with donated film. There has to be some payback for giving up a whole shelf of freezer space to a film stash, right?

Unintended consequences.

Keeping everyone home to fight the spread of COVID19 has an unintended consequence. Fires have increased during the lockdown. Its an alarming trend, almost double the rate of last year. The leading cause of residential fires is unattended cooking and more people at home means more cooking. It also means more people smoking at home, another leading causes of home fires mostly caused by smokers flicking lit cigarette buts off a balcony.

set the ball a rollin

i'll be clicking off the miles

on the train of consequences

my boxcar life o' style

my thinking is derailed

i'm tied up to the tracks

the train of consequences

there ain't no turning back

 

Our Heritage

just an ironic view of what might happen to vital services such as the Fire Brigade due to financial cut backs....originally an old house which I tried to add pretend flames to...digitally

 

thanks for looking...appreciated.....best bigger......hope you have a Great Weekend

Seems like everything in Truth or Consequences is as unique as the town's name. The town was originally called Hot Springs but changed it's name to Truth or Consequences in 1950. Ralph Edwards, the host of a popular radio quiz show announced that he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Hot Springs won. It's name is usually shortened to T or C. Just 30 miles away is the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport Virgin Galactic plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public. Let's hope they don't rename the town again to Virgin or Branson, I like T or C better :)

 

Truth or Consequences, Sierra County, NM

 

Active sInkhole consuming freshly layed asphalt and road marker.

Conséquences de plusieurs décennies d'absence de politique cyclable intelligente en France.

Il y a tout de même eu quelques tentatives de faites mais elles sont restées à l'état de belles paroles ou se sont dissoutes à travers les couches des millefeuilles politiques, administratifs et financiers et à travers les guerres de clochers, de départements, de régions et de partis politiques opposés.

Le résultat est un réseau cyclable insuffisamment développé, médiocre car réalisé à bas coûts et non maillé.

Des kilomètres de pistes cyclables médiocres sont alignés pour les statistiques à des fins électorales et de marketing touristique mais les parties dangereuses ne sont pas traitées et la nécessité de mettre en place un maillage n'est pas prise en compte. (les itinéraires touristiques ou de promenade doivent proposer des boucles : qui a envie de faire l'aller et le retour par le même chemin? Je ne connais pas d'agence de voyage qui le fasse! (hormis le trajet pour se rendre sur place, bien sûr)

  

Take them into Consideration ..

    

* from the archive =/ took it while waiting fil airport

Part I

ENB .161, In-game Vignette, Grain, Original post-processing (No Adaption), Bloom, 5-pass DoF, SSAO, Sunrays, Detailed Shadows, Custom palette + SweetFX for SMAA, DPX, LiftGammaGain, Vibrance, Sepia & Dithering.

The 1918–20 "Spanish flu" influenza pandemic resulted in dramatic mortality worldwide.

A pandemic (from Greek πᾶν, pan, 'all' and δῆμος, demos, 'people') is an epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents, or worldwide. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of infected people is not a pandemic. Further, flu pandemics generally exclude recurrences of seasonal flu.

 

Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis. One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death (also known as The Plague), which killed an estimated 75–200 million people in the 14th century. Other notable pandemics include the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) and the 2009 flu pandemic (H1N1). Current pandemics include HIV/AIDS and the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

  

Contents

1Definition and stages

2Management

3Current pandemics

3.1HIV/AIDS

3.2Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

4Notable outbreaks

4.1Cholera

4.2Influenza

4.3Typhus

4.4Smallpox

4.5Measles

4.6Tuberculosis

4.7Leprosy

4.8Malaria

4.9Yellow fever

5Concerns about future pandemics

5.1Antibiotic resistance

5.2Viral hemorrhagic fevers

5.3Coronaviruses

5.4Influenza

5.5Zika virus

6Economic consequences

7Biological warfare

8In popular culture

9See also

10Notes

11References

12Further reading

13External links

Definition and stages[edit]

 

The World Health Organization's former influenza pandemic alert phases—WHO no longer uses this old system of six phases

A pandemic is an epidemic occurring on a scale that crosses international boundaries, usually affecting people on a worldwide scale.[1] Pandemics can also occur in important agricultural organisms (livestock, crop plants, fish, tree species) or in other organisms.[citation needed] A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic because the disease is neither infectious nor contagious.[2]

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) previously applied a six-stage classification to describe the process by which a novel influenza virus moves from the first few infections in humans through to a pandemic. This starts with the virus mostly infecting animals, with a few cases where animals infect people, then moves through the stage where the virus begins to spread directly between people and ends with a pandemic when infections from the new virus have spread worldwide. In February 2020, a WHO spokesperson clarified that "there is no official category [for a pandemic]".[a][3]

 

In a virtual press conference in May 2009 on the influenza pandemic, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General ad interim for Health Security and Environment, WHO said "An easy way to think about pandemic ... is to say: a pandemic is a global outbreak. Then you might ask yourself: 'What is a global outbreak'? Global outbreak means that we see both spread of the agent ... and then we see disease activities in addition to the spread of the virus."[4]

 

In planning for a possible influenza pandemic, the WHO published a document on pandemic preparedness guidance in 1999, revised in 2005 and in February 2009, defining phases and appropriate actions for each phase in an aide-mémoire titled WHO pandemic phase descriptions and main actions by phase. The 2009 revision, including definitions of a pandemic and the phases leading to its declaration, were finalized in February 2009. The pandemic H1N1 2009 virus was neither on the horizon at that time nor mentioned in the document.[5][6] All versions of this document refer to influenza. The phases are defined by the spread of the disease; virulence and mortality are not mentioned in the current WHO definition, although these factors have previously been included.[7]

 

Management[edit]

See also: Mathematical modelling of infectious disease

 

The goals of community mitigation: (1) delay outbreak peak; (2) reduce peak burden on healthcare, known as flattening the curve; and (3) diminish overall cases and health impact.[8][9]

The basic strategies in the control of an outbreak are containment and mitigation. Containment may be undertaken in the early stages of the outbreak, including contact tracing and isolating infected individuals to stop the disease from spreading to the rest of the population, other public health interventions on infection control, and therapeutic countermeasures such as vaccinations which may be effective if available.[10] When it becomes apparent that it is no longer possible to contain the spread of the disease, it will then move on to the mitigation stage, when measures are taken to slow the spread of disease and mitigate its effects on the health care system and society. In reality, a combination of both containment and mitigation measures may be undertaken at the same time to control an outbreak.[11]

 

A key part of managing an infectious disease outbreak is trying to decrease the epidemic peak, known as flattening the epidemic curve.[8] This helps decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed and providing more time for a vaccine and treatment to be developed.[8] Non-pharmaceutical interventions may be taken to manage the outbreak; for example in a flu pandemic, these actions may include personal preventive measures such as hand hygiene, wearing face-masks and self-quarantine; community measures aimed at social distancing such as closing schools and cancelling mass gathering events; community engagement to encourage acceptance and participation in such interventions; as well as environmental measures such as cleaning of surfaces.[9]

 

Another strategy, suppression, requires more extreme long-term non-pharmaceutical interventions so as to reverse the pandemic by reducing the basic reproduction number to less than 1. The suppression strategy, which include stringent population-wide social distancing, home isolation of cases and household quarantine, was undertaken by China during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic where entire cities were placed under lockdown, but such strategy carries with it considerable social and economic costs.[12]

 

Current pandemics[edit]

HIV/AIDS[edit]

Main article: AIDS pandemic

 

Estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence among young adults (15-49) by country as of 2008

HIV originated in Africa, and spread to the United States via Haiti between 1966 and 1972.[13] AIDS is currently a pandemic, with infection rates as high as 25% in southern and eastern Africa. In 2006, the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women in South Africa was 29%.[14] Effective education about safer sexual practices and bloodborne infection precautions training have helped to slow down infection rates in several African countries sponsoring national education programs.[citation needed]

 

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)[edit]

Main article: 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

 

People queueing outside a Wuhan pharmacy to buy face masks and medical supplies

A new coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, in late December 2019,[15] as causing a cluster of cases of an acute respiratory disease, referred to as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to media reports, more than 200 countries and territories have been affected, with major outbreaks in the United States, central China, Italy, Spain, and Iran.[16][17] On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.[18][19] As of 3 April 2020, the number of SARS-CoV-2 infected persons reached one million, the death toll was 55,132 and the number of patients recovered was 225,335.[20]

 

Notable outbreaks[edit]

See also: List of epidemics, Columbian Exchange, and Globalization and disease

There have been a number of significant epidemics and pandemics recorded in human history, generally zoonoses such as influenza and tuberculosis, which came about with domestication of animals. There have been a number of particularly significant epidemics that deserve mention above the "mere" destruction of cities:

 

Plague of Athens, from 430 to 426 BCE. During the Peloponnesian War, typhoid fever killed a quarter of the Athenian troops, and a quarter of the population over four years. This disease fatally weakened the dominance of Athens, but the sheer virulence of the disease prevented its wider spread; i.e. it killed off its hosts at a rate faster than they could spread it. The exact cause of the plague was unknown for many years. In January 2006, researchers from the University of Athens analyzed teeth recovered from a mass grave underneath the city, and confirmed the presence of bacteria responsible for typhoid.[21]

 

Contemporary engraving of Marseille during the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720–1721

Antonine Plague, from 165 to 180 AD. Possibly smallpox brought to the Italian peninsula by soldiers returning from the Near East; it killed a quarter of those infected, and up to five million in all.[22] At the height of a second outbreak, the Plague of Cyprian (251–266), which may have been the same disease, 5,000 people a day were said to be dying in Rome.

Plague of Justinian, from 541 to 750, was the first recorded outbreak of the bubonic plague. It started in Egypt, and reached Constantinople the following spring, killing (according to the Byzantine chronicler Procopius) 10,000 a day at its height, and perhaps 40% of the city's inhabitants. The plague went on to eliminate a quarter to half the human population of the known world.[23][24] It caused Europe's population to drop by around 50% between 550 AD and 700 AD.[25]

Black Death, from 1331 to 1353. The total number of deaths worldwide is estimated at 75 to 200 million people.Black Death#cite ref-ABC/Reuters 1-1 Eight hundred years after the last outbreak, the plague returned to Europe. Starting in Asia, the disease reached Mediterranean and western Europe in 1348 (possibly from Italian merchants fleeing fighting in Crimea), and killed an estimated 20 to 30 million Europeans in six years;[26] a third of the total population,[27] and up to a half in the worst-affected urban areas.[28] It was the first of a cycle of European plague epidemics that continued until the 18th century.[29] There were more than 100 plague epidemics in Europe in this period.[30] The disease recurred in England every two to five years from 1361 to 1480.[31] By the 1370s, England's population was reduced by 50%.[32] The Great Plague of London of 1665–66 was the last major outbreak of the plague in England. The disease killed approximately 100,000 people, 20% of London's population.[33]

The third plague pandemic started in China in 1855, and spread to India, where 10 million people died.[34] During this pandemic, the United States saw its first outbreak: the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904.[35] Today, isolated cases of plague are still found in the western United States.[36]

Spanish flu, from 1918 to 1920. It infected 500 million people around the world,[37] including people on remote Pacific islands and in the Arctic, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million people.[37][38] Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill the very young and the very old, with higher survival rate for those in between, but the Spanish flu had an unusually high mortality rate for young adults.[39] Spanish flu killed more people than World War I did and it killed more people in 25 weeks than AIDS did in its first 25 years.[40][41] Mass troop movements and close quarters during World War I caused it to spread and mutate faster; the susceptibility of soldiers to Spanish flu might have been increased due to stress, malnourishment and chemical attacks.[42] Improved transportation systems made it easier for soldiers, sailors, and civilian travelers to spread the disease.[43]

 

Aztecs dying of smallpox, Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585)

Encounters between European explorers and populations in the rest of the world often introduced local epidemics of extraordinary virulence. Disease killed part of the native population of the Canary Islands in the 16th century (Guanches). Half the native population of Hispaniola in 1518 was killed by smallpox. Smallpox also ravaged Mexico in the 1520s, killing 150,000 in Tenochtitlán alone, including the emperor, and Peru in the 1530s, aiding the European conquerors.[44] Measles killed a further two million Mexican natives in the 17th century. In 1618–1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans.[45] During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30% of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans.[46] Smallpox epidemics in 1780–1782 and 1837–1838 brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the Plains Indians.[47] Some believe the death of up to 95% of the Native American population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza.[48] Over the centuries, the Europeans had developed high degrees of immunity to these diseases, while the indigenous peoples had no such immunity.[49]

 

Smallpox devastated the native population of Australia, killing around 50% of Indigenous Australians in the early years of British colonisation.[50] It also killed many New Zealand Māori.[51] As late as 1848–49, as many as 40,000 out of 150,000 Hawaiians are estimated to have died of measles, whooping cough and influenza. Introduced diseases, notably smallpox, nearly wiped out the native population of Easter Island.[52] Measles killed more than 40,000 Fijians, approximately one-third of the population, in 1875,[53] and in the early 21st century devastated the Andamanese population.[54] The Ainu population decreased drastically in the 19th century, due in large part to infectious diseases brought by Japanese settlers pouring into Hokkaido.[55]

 

Researchers concluded that syphilis was carried from the New World to Europe after Columbus' voyages. The findings suggested Europeans could have carried the nonvenereal tropical bacteria home, where the organisms may have mutated into a more deadly form in the different conditions of Europe.[56] The disease was more frequently fatal than it is today. Syphilis was a major killer in Europe during the Renaissance.[57] Between 1602 and 1796, the Dutch East India Company sent almost a million Europeans to work in Asia. Ultimately, fewer than a third made their way back to Europe. The majority died of diseases.[58] Disease killed more British soldiers in India and South Africa than war.[59]

 

As early as 1803, the Spanish Crown organized a mission (the Balmis expedition) to transport the smallpox vaccine to the Spanish colonies, and establish mass vaccination programs there.[60] By 1832, the federal government of the United States established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans.[61] From the beginning of the 20th century onwards, the elimination or control of disease in tropical countries became a driving force for all colonial powers.[62] The sleeping sickness epidemic in Africa was arrested due to mobile teams systematically screening millions of people at risk.[63] In the 20th century, the world saw the biggest increase in its population in human history due to lessening of the mortality rate in many countries due to medical advances.[64] The world population has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to an estimated 6.8 billion in 2011.[65]

 

Cholera[edit]

Main article: Cholera outbreaks and pandemics

Since it became widespread in the 19th century, cholera has killed tens of millions of people.[66]

 

1817–1824 cholera pandemic. Previously restricted to the Indian subcontinent, the pandemic began in Bengal, then spread across India by 1820. 10,000 British troops and countless Indians died during this pandemic.[67] It extended as far as China, Indonesia (where more than 100,000 people succumbed on the island of Java alone) and the Caspian Sea before receding. Deaths in the Indian subcontinent between 1817 and 1860 are estimated to have exceeded 15 million persons. Another 23 million died between 1865 and 1917. Russian deaths during a similar period exceeded 2 million.[68]

1826–1837 cholera pandemic. Reached Russia (see Cholera Riots), Hungary (about 100,000 deaths) and Germany in 1831, London in 1832 (more than 55,000 persons died in the United Kingdom),[69] France, Canada (Ontario), and United States (New York City) in the same year,[70] and the Pacific coast of North America by 1834. It is believed that more than 150,000 Americans died of cholera between 1832 and 1849.[71]

1846–1860 cholera pandemic. Deeply affected Russia, with more than a million deaths. A two-year outbreak began in England and Wales in 1848 and claimed 52,000 lives.[72] Throughout Spain, cholera caused more than 236,000 deaths in 1854–55.[73] It claimed 200,000 lives in Mexico.[74]

1863–75 cholera pandemic. Spread mostly in Europe and Africa. At least 30,000 of the 90,000 Mecca pilgrims fell victim to the disease. Cholera claimed 90,000 lives in Russia in 1866.[75]

In 1866, there was an outbreak in North America. It killed some 50,000 Americans.[71]

1881–96 cholera pandemic. The 1883–1887 epidemic cost 250,000 lives in Europe and at least 50,000 in the Americas. Cholera claimed 267,890 lives in Russia (1892);[76] 120,000 in Spain;[77] 90,000 in Japan and 60,000 in Persia.

In 1892, cholera contaminated the water supply of Hamburg, and caused 8,606 deaths.[78]

1899–1923 cholera pandemic. Had little effect in Europe because of advances in public health, but Russia was badly affected again (more than 500,000 people dying of cholera during the first quarter of the 20th century).[79] The sixth pandemic killed more than 800,000 in India. The 1902–1904 cholera epidemic claimed more than 200,000 lives in the Philippines.[80]

1961–75 cholera pandemic. Began in Indonesia, called El Tor after the new biotype responsible for the pandemic, and reached Bangladesh in 1963, India in 1964, and the Soviet Union in 1966. Since then the pandemic has reached Africa, South America, and Central America.

Influenza[edit]

Main article: Influenza pandemic

 

Advice for travelers (in French and English) on the risks of epidemics abroad; posters from the Charles De Gaulle airport, Paris

The Greek physician Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", first described influenza in 412 BC.[81]

The first influenza pandemic was recorded in 1580, and since then, influenza pandemics occurred every 10 to 30 years.[82][83][84]

The 1889–1890 flu pandemic, also known as Russian Flu, was first reported in May 1889 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. By October, it had reached Tomsk and the Caucasus. It rapidly spread west and hit North America in December 1889, South America in February–April 1890, India in February–March 1890, and Australia in March–April 1890. The H3N8 and H2N2 subtypes of the Influenza A virus have each been identified as possible causes. It had a very high attack and mortality rate, causing around a million fatalities.[85]

The "Spanish flu", 1918–1919. First identified early in March 1918 in U.S. troops training at Camp Funston, Kansas. By October 1918, it had spread to become a worldwide pandemic on all continents, and eventually infected about one-third of the world's population (or ≈500 million persons).[37] Unusually deadly and virulent, it ended almost as quickly as it began, vanishing completely within 18 months. Within six months, some 50 million people were dead;[37] some estimates put the total number of fatalities worldwide at over twice that number.[86] About 17 million died in India, 675,000 in the United States,[87] and 200,000 in the United Kingdom. The virus that caused Spanish flu was also implicated as a cause of encephalitis lethargica in children.[88] The virus was recently reconstructed by scientists at the CDC studying remains preserved by the Alaskan permafrost. The H1N1 virus has a small but crucial structure that is similar to the Spanish flu.[89]

The "Asian Flu", 1957–58. A H2N2 virus first identified in China in late February 1957. It caused about two million deaths globally.[90] The Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957 and caused about 70,000 deaths in the U.S.

The "Hong Kong Flu", 1968–69. A H3N2 virus first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968, and spread to the United States later that year. This pandemic of 1968 and 1969 killed approximately one million people worldwide.[91] It caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States.

The "Swine Flu", 2009–10. An H1N1 virus first detected in Mexico in early 2009, and spread to the United States later that year. This pandemic was estimated to have killed around 284,000 people worldwide.[92][failed verification] It was estimated to have caused about 12,000 deaths in the United States alone.

Typhus[edit]

Typhus is sometimes called "camp fever" because of its pattern of flaring up in times of strife. (It is also known as "gaol fever" and "ship fever", for its habits of spreading wildly in cramped quarters, such as jails and ships.) Emerging during the Crusades, it had its first impact in Europe in 1489, in Spain. During fighting between the Christian Spaniards and the Muslims in Granada, the Spanish lost 3,000 to war casualties, and 20,000 to typhus. In 1528, the French lost 18,000 troops in Italy, and lost supremacy in Italy to the Spanish. In 1542, 30,000 soldiers died of typhus while fighting the Ottomans in the Balkans.

 

During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), about eight million Germans were killed by bubonic plague and typhus.[93] The disease also played a major role in the destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armée in Russia in 1812. During the retreat from Moscow, more French military personnel died of typhus than were killed by the Russians.[94] Of the 450,000 soldiers who crossed the Neman on 25 June 1812, fewer than 40,000 returned. More military personnel were killed from 1500–1914 by typhus than from military action.[95] In early 1813, Napoleon raised a new army of 500,000 to replace his Russian losses. In the campaign of that year, more than 219,000 of Napoleon's soldiers died of typhus.[96] Typhus played a major factor in the Irish Potato Famine. During World War I, typhus epidemics killed more than 150,000 in Serbia. There were about 25 million infections and 3 million deaths from epidemic typhus in Russia from 1918 to 1922.[96] Typhus also killed numerous prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps and Soviet prisoner of war camps during World War II. More than 3.5 million Soviet POWs died out of the 5.7 million in Nazi custody.[97]

 

Smallpox[edit]

 

A child with smallpox infection, c. 1908

Smallpox was a contagious disease caused by the variola virus. The disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans per year during the closing years of the 18th century.[98] During the 20th century, it is estimated that smallpox was responsible for 300–500 million deaths.[99][100] As recently as the early 1950s, an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year.[101] After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in December 1979. To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated,[102] and one of two infectious viruses ever to be eradicated along with rinderpest.[103]

 

Measles[edit]

Historically, measles was prevalent throughout the world, as it is highly contagious. According to the U.S. National Immunization Program, 90% of people were infected with measles by age 15. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, there were an estimated three to four million cases in the U.S. each year.[104] Measles killed around 200 million people worldwide over the last 150 years.[105] In 2000 alone, measles killed some 777,000 worldwide out of 40 million cases globally.[106]

 

Measles is an endemic disease, meaning it has been continually present in a community, and many people develop resistance. In populations that have not been exposed to measles, exposure to a new disease can be devastating. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of the natives who had previously survived smallpox.[107] The disease had ravaged Mexico, Central America, and the Inca civilization.[108]

 

Tuberculosis[edit]

 

In 2007, the prevalence of TB per 100,000 people was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, and was also relatively high in Asian countries like India.

One-quarter of the world's current population has been infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and new infections occur at a rate of one per second.[109] About 5–10% of these latent infections will eventually progress to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than half its victims. Annually, eight million people become ill with tuberculosis, and two million die from the disease worldwide.[110] In the 19th century, tuberculosis killed an estimated one-quarter of the adult population of Europe;[111] by 1918, one in six deaths in France were still caused by tuberculosis. During the 20th century, tuberculosis killed approximately 100 million people.[105] TB is still one of the most important health problems in the developing world.[112]

 

Leprosy[edit]

Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. It is a chronic disease with an incubation period of up to five years. Since 1985, 15 million people worldwide have been cured of leprosy.[113]

 

Historically, leprosy has affected people since at least 600 BC.[114] Leprosy outbreaks began to occur in Western Europe around 1000 AD.[115][116] Numerous leprosoria, or leper hospitals, sprang up in the Middle Ages; Matthew Paris estimated that in the early 13th century, there were 19,000 of them across Europe.[117]

 

Malaria[edit]

 

Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009

Malaria is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria.[118] Drug resistance poses a growing problem in the treatment of malaria in the 21st century, since resistance is now common against all classes of antimalarial drugs, except for the artemisinins.[119]

 

Malaria was once common in most of Europe and North America, where it is now for all purposes non-existent.[120] Malaria may have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.[121] The disease became known as "Roman fever".[122] Plasmodium falciparum became a real threat to colonists and indigenous people alike when it was introduced into the Americas along with the slave trade. Malaria devastated the Jamestown colony and regularly ravaged the South and Midwest of the United States. By 1830, it had reached the Pacific Northwest.[123] During the American Civil War, there were more than 1.2 million cases of malaria among soldiers of both sides.[124] The southern U.S. continued to be afflicted with millions of cases of malaria into the 1930s.[125]

 

Yellow fever[edit]

Yellow fever has been a source of several devastating epidemics.[126] Cities as far north as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were hit with epidemics. In 1793, one of the largest yellow fever epidemics in U.S. history killed as many as 5,000 people in Philadelphia—roughly 10% of the population. About half of the residents had fled the city, including President George Washington.[127] In colonial times, West Africa became known as "the white man's grave" because of malaria and yellow fever.[128]

 

Concerns about future pandemics[edit]

See also: Pandemic prevention

Antibiotic resistance[edit]

Main article: Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, sometimes referred to as "superbugs", may contribute to the re-emergence of diseases which are currently well controlled.[129] For example, cases of tuberculosis that are resistant to traditionally effective treatments remain a cause of great concern to health professionals. Every year, nearly half a million new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are estimated to occur worldwide.[130] China and India have the highest rate of multidrug-resistant TB.[131] The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that approximately 50 million people worldwide are infected with MDR TB, with 79 percent of those cases resistant to three or more antibiotics. In 2005, 124 cases of MDR TB were reported in the United States. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) was identified in Africa in 2006, and subsequently discovered to exist in 49 countries, including the United States. There are about 40,000 new cases of XDR-TB per year, the WHO estimates.[132]

 

In the past 20 years, common bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia marcescens and Enterococcus, have developed resistance to various antibiotics such as vancomycin, as well as whole classes of antibiotics, such as the aminoglycosides and cephalosporins. Antibiotic-resistant organisms have become an important cause of healthcare-associated (nosocomial) infections (HAI). In addition, infections caused by community-acquired strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in otherwise healthy individuals have become more frequent in recent years.

 

Viral hemorrhagic fevers[edit]

Viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, Marburg virus disease and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever are highly contagious and deadly diseases, with the theoretical potential to become pandemics.[133] Their ability to spread efficiently enough to cause a pandemic is limited, however, as transmission of these viruses requires close contact with the infected vector, and the vector has only a short time before death or serious illness. Furthermore, the short time between a vector becoming infectious and the onset of symptoms allows medical professionals to quickly quarantine vectors, and prevent them from carrying the pathogen elsewhere. Genetic mutations could occur, which could elevate their potential for causing widespread harm; thus close observation by contagious disease specialists is merited.[citation needed]

 

Coronaviruses[edit]

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.[134]

 

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.

 

Some coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans, and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent the spread of infection include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, and avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. The recommended distance from other people is 6 feet, a practice more commonly called social distancing.

 

Severe acute respiratory syndrome[edit]

In 2003 the Italian physician Carlo Urbani (1956–2003) was the first to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as a new and dangerously contagious disease, although he became infected and died. It is caused by a coronavirus dubbed SARS-CoV. Rapid action by national and international health authorities such as the World Health Organization helped to slow transmission and eventually broke the chain of transmission, which ended the localized epidemics before they could become a pandemic. However, the disease has not been eradicated and could re-emerge. This warrants monitoring and reporting of suspicious cases of atypical pneumonia.[135]

 

Influenza[edit]

Main article: Influenza pandemic

 

President Barack Obama is briefed in the Situation Room about the 2009 flu pandemic, which killed as many as 17,000 Americans.[136]

Wild aquatic birds are the natural hosts for a range of influenza A viruses. Occasionally, viruses are transmitted from these species to other species, and may then cause outbreaks in domestic poultry or, rarely, in humans.[137][138]

 

H5N1 (Avian flu)[edit]

Main article: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1

In February 2004, avian influenza virus was detected in birds in Vietnam, increasing fears of the emergence of new variant strains. It is feared that if the avian influenza virus combines with a human influenza virus (in a bird or a human), the new subtype created could be both highly contagious and highly lethal in humans. Such a subtype could cause a global influenza pandemic, similar to the Spanish flu or the lower mortality pandemics such as the Asian Flu and the Hong Kong Flu.

 

From October 2004 to February 2005, some 3,700 test kits of the 1957 Asian Flu virus were accidentally spread around the world from a lab in the U.S.[139]

 

In May 2005, scientists urgently called upon nations to prepare for a global influenza pandemic that could strike as much as 20% of the world's population.[140]

 

In October 2005, cases of the avian flu (the deadly strain H5N1) were identified in Turkey. EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: "We have received now confirmation that the virus found in Turkey is an avian flu H5N1 virus. There is a direct relationship with viruses found in Russia, Mongolia and China." Cases of bird flu were also identified shortly thereafter in Romania, and then Greece. Possible cases of the virus have also been found in Croatia, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.[141]

 

By November 2007, numerous confirmed cases of the H5N1 strain had been identified across Europe.[142] However, by the end of October, only 59 people had died as a result of H5N1, which was atypical of previous influenza pandemics.

 

Avian flu cannot be categorized as a "pandemic" because the virus cannot yet cause sustained and efficient human-to-human transmission. Cases so far are recognized to have been transmitted from bird to human, but as of December 2006 there had been few (if any) cases of proven human-to-human transmission.[143] Regular influenza viruses establish infection by attaching to receptors in the throat and lungs, but the avian influenza virus can attach only to receptors located deep in the lungs of humans, requiring close, prolonged contact with infected patients, and thus limiting person-to-person transmission.

 

Zika virus[edit]

Main articles: 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic, Zika virus, and Zika fever

An outbreak of Zika virus began in 2015 and strongly intensified throughout the start of 2016, with more than 1.5 million cases across more than a dozen countries in the Americas. The World Health Organization warned that Zika had the potential to become an explosive global pandemic if the outbreak was not controlled.[144]

 

Economic consequences[edit]

In 2016, the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future estimated that pandemic disease events would cost the global economy over $6 trillion in the 21st century—over $60 billion per year.[145] The same report recommended spending $4.5 billion annually on global prevention and response capabilities to reduce the threat posed by pandemic events.

 

Biological warfare[edit]

Further information: Biological warfare

In 1346, according to secondhand and uncorroborated accounts by Mussi, the bodies of Mongol warriors who had died of plague were thrown over the walls of the besieged Crimean city of Kaffa (now Theodosia). After a protracted siege, during which the Mongol army under Jani Beg was suffering the disease, they catapulted the infected corpses over the city walls to infect the inhabitants. It has been speculated that this operation may have been responsible for the arrival of the Black Death in Europe. However, historians believe it would have taken far too long for the bodies to become contagious.[146]

 

The Native American population was devastated after contact with the Old World by introduction of many fatal diseases.[147][148][149] In a well documented case of germ warfare involving British commander Jeffery Amherst and Swiss-British officer Colonel Henry Bouquet, their correspondence included a proposal and agreement to give smallpox-infected blankets to Indians in order to "Extirpate this Execrable Race". During the siege of Fort Pitt late in the French and Indian War, as recorded in his journal by sundries trader and militia Captain, William Trent, on 24 June 1763, dignitaries from the Delaware tribe met with Fort Pitt officials, warned them of "great numbers of Indians" coming to attack the fort, and pleaded with them to leave the fort while there was still time. The commander of the fort refused to abandon the fort. Instead, the British gave as gifts two blankets, one silk handkerchief and one linen from the smallpox hospital to two Delaware Indian dignitaries.[150] The dignitaries were met again later and they seemingly hadn't contracted smallpox.[151] A relatively small outbreak of smallpox had begun spreading earlier that spring, with a hundred dying from it among Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes area through 1763 and 1764.[151] The effectiveness of the biological warfare itself remains unknown, and the method used is inefficient compared to respiratory transmission and these attempts to spread the disease are difficult to differentiate from epidemics occurring from previous contacts with colonists,[152] as smallpox outbreaks happened every dozen or so years.[153] However historian Francis Jennings believes that the attempt at biological warfare was "unquestionably effective at Fort Pitt".[154]

 

During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army conducted human experimentation on thousands, mostly Chinese. In military campaigns, the Japanese army used biological weapons on Chinese soldiers and civilians. Plague fleas, infected clothing, and infected supplies encased in bombs were dropped on various targets. The resulting cholera, anthrax, and plague were estimated to have killed around 400,000 Chinese civilians.

 

Diseases considered for or known to be used as a weapon include anthrax, ebola, Marburg virus, plague, cholera, typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, brucellosis, Q fever, machupo, Coccidioides mycosis, Glanders, Melioidosis, Shigella, Psittacosis, Japanese B encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, and smallpox.[155]

 

Spores of weaponized anthrax were accidentally released from a military facility near the Soviet closed city of Sverdlovsk in 1979. The Sverdlovsk anthrax leak is sometimes called "biological Chernobyl".[155] In January 2009, an Al-Qaeda training camp in Algeria was reportedly wiped out by the plague, killing approximately 40 Islamic extremists. Some experts said the group was developing biological weapons,[156] however, a couple of days later the Algerian Health Ministry flatly denied this rumour stating "No case of plague of any type has been recorded in any region of Algeria since 2003".[157]

 

In popular culture[edit]

 

This section contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (March 2020)

 

Pieter Bruegel's The Triumph of Death (c. 1562) reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed the plague that devastated medieval Europe.

Pandemics appear in multiple fiction works. A common use is in disaster films, where the protagonists must avoid the effects of the plague, for example zombies.[clarification needed]

 

Literature

 

The Decameron, a 14th-century writing by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, circa 1353

The Last Man, an 1826 novel by Mary Shelley

The Betrothed, an 1842 historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni describing the plague that struck Milan around 1630.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider, a 1939 short novel by Katherine Anne Porter

The Plague, a 1947 novel by Albert Camus

Earth Abides, a 1949 novel by George R. Stewart

I Am Legend, a 1954 science fiction/horror novel by American writer Richard Matheson

The Andromeda Strain, a 1969 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton

The Last Canadian, a 1974 novel by William C. Heine

The Black Death, a 1977 novel by Gwyneth Cravens describing an outbreak of the Pneumonic plague in New York[158]

The Stand, a 1978 novel by Stephen King

And the Band Played On, a 1987 non-fiction account by Randy Shilts about the emergence and discovery of the HIV / AIDS pandemic

Doomsday Book, a 1992 time-travel novel by Connie Willis

The Last Town on Earth, a 2006 novel by Thomas Mullen

World War Z, a 2006 novel by Max Brooks

Company of Liars (2008), by Karen Maitland

The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin with The Passage (2010), The Twelve (2012), and The City of Mirrors (2016)

Station Eleven, a 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel

Film

 

The Seventh Seal (1957), set during the Black Death

The Last Man on Earth (1964), a horror/science fiction film based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend

Andromeda Strain (1971), a U.S. science fiction film based on the 1969 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton.

The Omega Man (1971), an English science fiction film, based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend

And the Band Played On (film) (1993), a HBO movie about the emergence of the HIV / AIDS pandemic; based on the 1987 non-fiction book by journalistRandy Shilts

The Stand (1994), based on the eponymous novel by Stephen King about a worldwide pandemic of biblical proportions

The Horseman on the Roof (Le Hussard sur le Toit) (1995), a French film dealing with an 1832 cholera outbreak

Twelve Monkeys (1995), set in a future world devastated by a man-made virus

Outbreak (1995), fiction film focusing on an outbreak of an Ebola-like virus in Zaire and later in a small town in California.

Smallpox 2002 (2002), a fictional BBC docudrama

28 Days Later (2002), a fictional horror film following the outbreak of an infectious 'Rage' virus that destroys all of mainland Britain

Yesterday (2004), a movie about the social aspects of the AIDS crisis in Africa.

End Day (2005), a fictional BBC docudrama

I Am Legend (2007), a post-apocalyptic action thriller film film starring Will Smith based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend

28 Weeks Later (2007), the sequel film to 28 Days Later, ending with the evident spread of infection to mainland Europe

The Happening (2008), a fictional suspense film about an epidemic caused by an unknown neurotoxin that induces human suicides to reduce population and restore ecological balance

Doomsday (2008), in which Scotland is quarantined following an epidemic

Black Death (2010) action horror film set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England

After Armageddon (2010), fictional History Channel docudrama

Contagion (2011), American thriller centering on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak

How to Survive a Plague (2012), a documentary film about the early years of the AIDS epidemic

World War Z (2013) American apocalyptic action horror film based on the novel by Max Brooks

The Normal Heart (2014), film depicts the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984

Television

 

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (2009), a television drama

Helix (2014–2015), a television series that depicts a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who are tasked to prevent pandemics from occurring.

The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018), a television series about a group of survivors after a pandemic has wiped out most life (humans and animals) on Earth

12 Monkeys (2015–2018), a television series that depicts James Cole, a time traveler, who travels from the year 2043 to the present day to stop the release of a deadly virus.

Survivors (1975–1977), classic BBC series created by Terry Nation. The series follows a group of people as they come to terms with the aftermath of a world pandemic.

Survivors (2008), BBC series, loosely based on the Terry Nation book which came after the series, instead of a retelling of the original TV series.

The Last Train 1999 written by Matthew Graham

World Without End (2012), chronicles the experiences of the medieval English town of Kingsbridge during the outbreak of the Black Death, based on Ken Follett's 2007 novel of the same name.

The Hot Zone (2019), a television series based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by Richard Preston.

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak (2020), Netflix's docuseries

The Walking Dead (2010–), a virus appears that kills people and then revives them by turning them into zombies. An Atlanta group will try to survive in this new, post-apocalyptic world

Games

 

Resident Evil series (1996-2020), video game series focusing on T-virus pandemic and eventual zombie apocalypse as part of a bioterrorism act. The video games later evolved to be focusing on parasites and bioweapons.

Deus Ex, A World Wide Plague known as grey death infects the world created by Majestic 12 to bring about population reduction and New World order.

Pandemic (2008), a cooperative board game in which the players have to discover the cures for four diseases that break out at the same time.

Plague Inc. (2012), a smartphone game from Ndemic Creations, where the goal is to kill off the human race with a plague.

The Last of Us (2013), a post-apocalyptic survival game centred around an outbreak of a Cordyceps-like fungal infection.

Tom Clancy's The Division (2015) A video game about a bioterrorist attack that has devastated the United States and thrown New York into anarchy.

See also[edit]

Pandemic portal

iconViruses portal

List of epidemics

Biological hazard

Bushmeat

Compartmental models in epidemiology

Crowdmapping

Disease X

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Mathematical modelling of infectious disease

Medieval demography

Mortality from infectious diseases

Pandemic severity index

Public health emergency of international concern

Super-spreader

Syndemic

Tropical disease

Timeline of global health

WHO pandemic phases

Notes[edit]

^ For clarification, WHO does not use the old system of six phases—ranging from phase 1 (no reports of animal influenza causing human infections) to phase 6 (a pandemic)—that some people may be familiar with from H1N1 in 2009.

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