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Chapter One
Pandemic Diseases in
the Ancient Era
The exact nature of the fi rst epidemics and pandemics
are lost in the murky mists of time. Yet evidence sug-
gests that people were periodically visited by disease
outbreaks well before they dwelled in primitive huts
in tiny villages. The precise origins of the many infec-
tious sicknesses that have emerged over the ages
are varied and mostly unknown. But as the late, great
American historian William H. McNeill suggested, at
least some of those maladies were initially transmitted
to humans by fellow primates, particularly monkeys
and great apes:
Though important details remain unclear, the ar-
ray of parasites that infest wild primate popula-
tions is known to be formidable. In addition to
various mites, fl eas, ticks, fl ies, and worms . . .
among the organisms that infect monkeys and
apes in the wild are fi fteen to twenty species of
malaria. Humankind normally supports only four
kinds of malaria, but apes can be infected with
human strains of malaria . . . and people can
likewise suffer from some of the kinds of malaria
found among monkeys and apes. 6
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