New killer diseases.

Date:
2000
  • Videos

About this work

Description

By the 1960s, with the defeat of smallpox, polio and tuberculosis, people were confident that the days of deadly infectious diseases were over. But confidence was shaken even before the end of that decade with the death of seven workers at a polio vaccine laboratory from Marburg's virus. In 1969 the deadly lassa fever, whose viral source is the rat, was brought to Britain from Sierra Leone. From 1976 onwards, outbreaks of disease caused by the highly infectious ebola virus killed hundreds in Africa. Increasing global travel meant that no disease could be confined to its country of origin. The Heathrow Health Control Unit screens immigrants for tuberculosis. Russia and Eastern Europe are badly affected by TB and the multi drug resistant strain can flare up anywhere in the world. Conference visitors to the US came home with Legionaires disease. Travel within cities on over crowded transport may spread disease. Animals are a chief source of infection: an influenza like illness originating in chickens was passed to humans in Hong Kong in 1997 and a disease originating in pigs killed those working with the animals in 1999 in Malaysia, both outbreaks necessitating the slaughter of the countries chickens and pigs. In Britain, children caught e-coli related illnesses from farm visits. AIDS, identified in 1980, has killed 16 million people. War, trade and travel exported it from Africa and the Western lifestyle encouraged it to flourish. The HIV virus mutates to evade control by drugs and there is still no prospect of a vaccine.

A documentary on the arrival of new deadly diseases from other parts of the world as a consequence of increased global travel and trade.

Publication/Creation

[Place of publication not identified] : Channel 4, 2000.

Physical description

1 videocassette (VHS) (60 min.) : sound, color, PAL.

Copyright note

Not known

Creator/production credits

Esta's Television Company

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores
    1237V

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