Pandemics that changed the world: historical reflections on COVID-19

Abstract

Kyle Harper’s contribution on the role of palaeogenomics and phylogenetics in the study of ancient plagues then underscores the critical importance of bringing together history, ecology, and biology, if we want to understand ‘the global ecology’ as a product of deep human history in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus has emerged The extension of state-induced inoculation programmes to indigenous Maya communities gave rise to a public debate broadly comparable to the current COVID-19 crisis: how far is the state responsible for the health of its peoples, and are coercion and violence justified to ensure compliance with quarantines and public health campaigns? Siddharth Chandra, Julia Christensen, and Shimon Likhtman shed light on the wave-like pattern of this extremely lethal pandemic and the role of human connectivity and seasonality in the timing and intensity of its diffusion across the northern and southern hemispheres Shane Doyle’s article reveals how Uganda, one of the world’s epicentres of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, enhanced the global standing of the Museveni regime with a hands-on approach to containing the epidemic