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Article: Epidemics: yesterday, today ... and tomorrow. (includes related articles) (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- November 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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epidemic (ep-e-dem'-ik): An outbreak of disease that attacks many people at about the same time and may spread through one or several communities.
Strange black swellings under the skin were often the first sign. Victims sweated, coughed, spit blood, and died within days. "This is the end of the world," wrote one observer.
Terror, panic, and despair seemed to rule the world. "Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another," wrote a chronicler of the times, "for this plague seemed to strike through the breath and sight. And so they died. And no one could be found to bury the dead for money or friendship.... And I, Angolo di Tura, called the Fat, ...