An expert warns that the death of blacks could come back with rising temperatures in the world

The world is currently in a frightening state, and I'm not talking about politics or war.

Recently, many forgotten diseases of the past have returned, including scarlet fever, poliomyelitis and plague.

In June, the Central District Health Department of Idaho revealed that a child from Elmore County had been infected with the plague, making him the first human to have received the diagnosis. of the deadly disease in Idaho since 1992.

Also known as the "Black Death", the disease claimed the lives of more than 200 million people in Eurasia and Europe from 1300 to 1400.

Many people thought that the plague was totally eradicated, but it turns out that each year, cases of plague, which affects the lymph nodes and causes gangrene, make hundreds of deaths in the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the mortality rate is currently well below 584 between 2010 and 2015.

Although this number should not be a cause for concern, we should be prepared for what it is increasing, according to an expert.

Peter Frankopan, director of the Oxford Byzantine Research Center, warns people against a possible plague pandemic.

"These are things that should worry us a lot."

The world history professor thinks that rising temperatures (due to global warming, of course) will melt the ice caps, causing the release of dangerous pathogens that cause diseases such as plague.

Frankopan's message follows a UN-backed report revealing that we have only 12 years left to tackle climate change and prevent a major disaster.

The study says there should not be more than 1.5 degrees of change in global temperatures if we want to avoid disasters, but Frankopan is not convinced that nations will be able to maintain low temperatures.

He explained:

"If we take into account this change in degree, the Maldives will no longer be difficult to visit on holiday or during the migration of people, but rather what happens when the permafrost unlocks and biological agents are buried for years. millennia, actually tens of thousands of years.

For example, in the 1340s, a 1.5 degree warming of the Earth's atmosphere – probably due to solar flares or volcanic activity – altered the cycle of the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This difference of a degree and a half allowed a small microbe to turn into a black plague.

These are things that should be of great concern to us. "

How to identify the plague

In the United States, epidemics tend to occur during cool summers after wet winters, and usually spread by infected fleas and rodents, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most cases occur in northern Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, Oregon, and extreme western Nevada.

The plague, which first arrived in America in the 1900s, affects people of all ages, but half of the reported infections were in people aged 12 to 45 years.

The symptoms of the plague appear between two and six days after exposure and include the sudden onset of fever, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may feel pain in their lymph nodes under the armpit.

How to protect yourself

As the bacteria spread very quickly, immediate treatment is needed. A laboratory test will be needed to diagnose it correctly because the plague is difficult to identify in its early stages.

It is usually treated with antibiotics, but it remains a 30 to 60% mortality rate if it is not treated for too long.

Here are some recommendations from US health authorities:

• Consult your doctor if you have a sudden high fever.
• If you have pets, keep them away from rodent hunting. If your pet gets sick after contact with a rodent, go immediately to the veterinarian. Do not hesitate to ask for flea products.
• Do not leave pet food or bowls in places where other animals can access them.
• Mow the lawn regularly, keep piles of wood almost stacked and get rid of weeds.
• Place the pile of compost and leaves as far from home as possible.

Frankopan's warning does not mean that you should panic, but reminds us that we must do our part to prevent the rising temperatures in the world.