DISEASES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

PREREQUISITE: ENGL1012 OR ENGL1012H The history of the world has been and continues to be significantly impacted by infectious diseases. Examples include changes in ethnic diversity in the U.S. due to European potato blights, the outcome of world wars where more soldiers died of influenza or cholera than battle wounds, the destruction and contamination of the natural environment in attempts to control malaria- and yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes, and prejudices against various national and ethnic groups as carriers of disease. At the same time that infectious diseases have altered human politics, economics and culture, human behaviors and technological advances have caused the global spread of once-isolated diseases and the emergence of new plagues. However, history has also shown that, with the right combination of scientific knowledge and global political, financial and social commitment, even the oldest and most feared microbial plagues can be controlled and possibly even eradicated. This course is a study of the history of various infectious diseases including the biological, social, economic and political factors that affect and are affected by these diseases.