What Happened Last Monday?

Hello again, loyal readers. Sorry - no plague trivia or disgusting photos or disturbing news reports this week. In fact, I need you to educate me a little bit this time around...

Last Monday, Feb. 23, was Contagion Day on campus. In the Campus Center Dining Room, Longview's own Dr. Brian Mitchell led a discussion on infectious diseases after the group watched the 2003 PBS documentary "Hot Zones". Only one problem - I didn't make it to campus on Monday for the presentation. But I know a lot of you did! My 'inside sources' told me there were at least 70 people crammed into the Dining Room and others turned away at the door after seeing the crowd (perfectly understandable, considering that large groups of people, cramped spaces and infectious diseases aren't a very good mix...)

So - for those of you who were there - how'd you like it? What did you learn? What did you like? Anything you didn't like? Give me the full review and help those who, like me, weren't there in person. Thanks!

PS - For slackers like myself, the DVD is on reserve at the Circulation Desk in the library. It checks out for two days. AND it's narrated by Matt Damon, so how about that? You can also check out the PBS website for the series here (complete with Matt Damon biography!). Again, the episode's title is "Hot Zones".

PPS - OK. One disgusting photo. But it's a bad one. Ready? Click here

Leftovers

Short post this week: just some extra trivia that didn't make it into the last few entries, along with a schedule of upcoming Plague-related events at Longview. Mark your calendars!

*** The plague may be the latest weapon in the War on Terror. According to this 1/19/09 article from the British newspaper The Telegraph, at least 40 al-Qaeda members died after the plague swept through a training camp in northern Algeria (on the Mediterranean coast, approx. 300 miles east of Oran). This follow-up article suggests that the al-Qaeda cell may have been trying to develop the disease into a biological weapon.

*** The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies plague as a Category A Bioterrorism Agent. Characteristics of Category A diseases include: ease of transmission from person-to-person, high mortality rates, and the possibility of "public panic and social disruption". Anthrax, smallpox, and the Ebola virus are also Category A agents. (image, above, from the CDC's Plague Images page - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/pics.htm)

*** Yersinia pestis, the plague bacteria, is named after Alexandre Yersin, the French doctor who discovered it in 1894. Yersin was a student of the famous scientist Louis Pasteur, and when Yersin discovered the bacteria, he named it Pasteurella pestis. It wasn't changed to honor Yersin until 1967. (Information here and below from the article "Yersin, Alexandre" in The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (2001), retrieved from Longview's Biography Reference Bank online database)

*** In 1895, Yersin began building laboratory facilities in Nha Trang, Indochina (now Vietnam), to produce anti-plague serum. He eventually moved there and stayed until his death in 1943. To this day, his tomb there is maintained as a shrine and the town is the site of the Yersin Museum. (photo, above, from the Pasteur Institute Archives - http://www.pasteur.fr/infosci/archives/yer0.html)

UPCOMING PLAGUE-RELATED EVENTS

February 23, 2009 - 11:30 - 12:45 PM
Contagion Day "Hot Zones"
Led by Brian Mitchell, view a 55-minute film which explores infectious diseases
Campus Center Private Dining Room

March 5, 2009 - 2:30 - 3:30 PM
Book Discussion of The Plague, led by David Reeves and Debi Serrano
Campus Center, Private Dining Room

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March 24, 2009 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Book Discussion of The Plague, led by Tensy Marcos-Bodker and Shelley Carney
Campus Center, Private Dining Room
Bring your lunch (how appetizing!)

April 17, 2009 - 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Book Discussion of The Plague, led by Jama Rooney and Linda Cox
Campus Center, Private Dining Room
Bring your lunch (extra credit if anything you're eating resembles a bubo...)

(Sorry I forgot to plug Jama and Linda's discussion on February 13. I heard it was a good discussion, attended by about 15 students, faculty, and staff)

"Thus from the dawn of recorded history the scourge of God has humbled the proud of heart"

This entry's title is a quote from the beginning of Father Paneloux's first sermon (it starts about a third of the way through the novel, in Part Two). During the course of his sermon, the Father makes reference to several historical plague outbreaks, so I thought I'd see what I could dig up for you. (As always, all sources referenced are available on the shelf at Longview Library, through the library's online databases, or from 'reputable' websites)

*** Paneloux quotes text from the biblical Book of Exodus, and calls this the "first time this scourge appears in history." The relevant passage seems to be Exodus 9: 8-12, which describes the sixth of the ten plagues visited on Egypt to help Moses convince the Pharaoh to free the Israelites: "So they [Moses and his brother Aaron] took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it caused festering boils on humans and animals." (Exod 9:10, NRSV, quoted in The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. 1 (1994))

*** There is ongoing debate over the historical accuracy of the Ten Plagues. But it is interesting to note that the sixth plague is preceded by plagues of biting insects and a pestilence that kills livestock. While not exactly the same, it is similar to the progression of bubonic plague from fleas to rats and other small mammals to humans.

(image of 'The Plague of Boils', from the British Library - http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/inside/goldhaggadahstories/10plagues/plaguesofegypt.html)

*** According to the Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence (3rd ed.), the first "certain instance of bubonic plague in the Mediterranean world" was an outbreak in Libya in the first century CE. The source of the account mentions that buboes were also common in Egypt and Syria and refers to an earlier source that may indicate the outbreak of bubonic plague as early as the 3rd century BCE. By way of comparison, according to Hebrew tradition, Moses was born sometime in the late 14th century BCE. (From George Childs Kohn's article, "Libyan plague of the first century CE", available in the online database Ancient and Medieval History Online)

*** Father Paneloux also tells of an Italian plague outbreak. His source, the Golden Legend, is a collection of biographies of saints, or 'hagiographies'. It was compiled in the 13th century CE and was actually one of the most popular books of the medieval era. Father Paneloux's story is from the life of Saint Sebastian, a martyr from the 3rd century CE. According to the story, the plague outbreak stopped after an altar with relics of Sebastian's body was built. (From Edward D. English's article "Golden Legend", in the Encyclopedia of the Medieval World, available in Ancient and Medieval History Online).

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(image below, "Suffering from the Plague", is from Ancient and Medieval History Online and shows "a chaotic scene outside a temple in a Roman city".)

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*** Although Father Paneloux mentions the Italian plague outbreak occurred during the reign of King "Umberto", the translation of the Golden Legend I read (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume2.htm) referred to King "Gumbert". In any case, the outbreak he's speaking of may have been the Plague of Cyprian, which ran through the Mediterranean coasts of Africa, the Near East, and Europe, and - at it's height - killed 5,000 people a day in Rome alone. Most scientists now believe the Cyprian Plague was smallpox or measles, not bubonic plague.

Blinding you with science

Well, something strange is certainly happening in Oran - dead rats, a dead concierge, more dead rats, some very sick people... If you've made it to the end of Part One, then you know what Dr. Rieux and Dr. Castel suspected all along: It's the plague (pretty big twist, considering the novel is titled The Plague - huh?).

But what is the plague? Here's some background information for us non-doctors. The following tidbits are taken from Carol Turkington and Bonnie Lee Ashby's article "Plague" in The Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases (3rd ed., 2007). This article - and many others on the plague - is available through Longview's Health Reference Center online database.

*** "The scourge of early history, plague is a serious infectious disease transmitted by the bites of rat fleas."

*** "Fleas found on rodents can carry the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly Bacillus pestis or Pasteurella pestis). More than 100 species of fleas have been reported to be naturally infected with plague." (image of oriental rat flea engorged with blood, from the CDC Plague Home Page - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/)

*** "There are three major forms of the disease: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic, each of which can occur alone or together, as the disease moves throughout the body. Bubonic plague is centered in the lymphatic system, creating swelling lymph nodes (buboes), from which it gets its name. Septicemic plague affects the bloodstream. Pneumonic plague occurs when the bacteria enters the lungs."

(shameful admission: I have a bachelor's degree in linguistics, and I didn't get the 'buboes'/'bubonic' connection until I looked up "bubo" in one of our medical dictionaries. Talk about your 'Well, duh' moments!)

*** "Two to five days after infection, patients experience sudden fever, shivering, seizures, and severe headaches followed by buboes—smooth, oval, reddened, and very painful swellings in the armpits, groin, or neck." (bubo image also from the CDC Plague Home Page)

*** "Pneumonic plague causes severe, overwhelming pneumonia, with shortness of breath, high fever, and blood in the phlegm. (Onset of these symptoms begins only one to three days after exposure.) If untreated, half the patients will die; if blood poisoning occurs as an early complication, patients may die before the buboes appear."

*** "Plague can be treated successfully if it is caught early. Untreated pneumonic plague is almost always fatal, and the chances of survival are very low unless specific antibiotic treatment is started within 15 to 18 hours after symptoms appear."

*** And, finally, the fact that surprised me the most: "Plague is ... found among ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Nevada. Between 10 and 50 Americans each year contract plague during the spring and summer months." (plague distribution map from the CDC Plague Home Page)

For those interested in more information on the medical aspects of plague, here is a bibliography of scientific resources. All are available on the shelf at Longview Library, through our online databases, or from authoritative websites, such as the Center for Disease Control's and the World Health Organization's.

Next week: a look at plague outbreaks throughout history, including those mentioned by Father Paneloux in his first sermon.