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Spread of Deadly Microbes

Eloise and her fellow passengers were handed a Health Alert Notice card after boarding a flight from London to New York. It was May 1995. The front side of the card read:

“TO The Traveler: Keep this card in your wallet or purse 6 weeks. If you become ill during this time, give this card to your physician and tell him/her about your recent travel outside the United States.

“You could have been exposed to a communicable disease before arriving in the United States, and knowing about this may be helpful to your physician in making a diagnosis.”

Flight attendants also handed out newspapers that described an outbreak of Ebola, a viral disease that was killing scores of people in Zaire.

Eloise read about Ebola—a savage and lethal disease. Infected patients first experienced fever, sore throat, and headache, quickly followed by vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Next was massive, uncontrolled bleeding, both internally and externally. In 9 out of 10 cases, death came quickly.

Months earlier, there had been reports of other strange and deadly diseases: plague in India, for example. Elsewhere people had died within hours from what the media called a “flesh-eating bug.”

Eloise turned the card over in her hand. The other side read:

“To The Physician: The patient presenting this card has recently been abroad, and could have been exposed to a communicable disease not commonly seen in the United States. If you suspect an unusual infectious disease in this instance (cholera, hemorrhagic fever, malaria, yellow fever, etc.), please report it immediately to your city, county, or State Health Officer and also (by telephone—collect) to the Division of Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia . . . ”

The card reflected growing international concern about the spread of deadly microbes—parasites, bacteria, and viruses—which, after igniting an epidemic in one place on earth, may rapidly spread like a brushfire to others. Unlike Eloise and her fellow passengers, microbes neither carry passports nor respect national boundaries. Inside an infected person, they travel undetected with incredible ease.

As she carefully tucked the Health Alert Notice card into her purse, Eloise wondered, ‘Where are these killer diseases coming from? Why is modern medical science seemingly unable to defeat them?’ Perhaps you have wondered about this too.