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NEWS > HEALTH > EUROPE ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE AS SUPERBUG SPREADS
EUROPE ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE AS SUPERBUG SPREADS
June 2 2011
London, U.K. – in the 14th century one of the most devastating and influential events occurred in Europe. For two years a massive pandemic spread across the continent, killing upwards of one hundred million people, nearly a quarter of the 
planet’s population at the time. That plague, the black plague, nearly destroyed Europe and forever changed the course of history, affecting everything from the medical sciences, economics, politics, religion, and even language. Without that event, our world would simply not be here today.
Like all major disasters the positive outcomes are not something which could have been anticipated at the time. Even if they had, it would have been little solace for those who were losing family members or dying themselves. Still, the influence of the plague has been felt throughout the march of history, a reality which will likely provide no solace for modern sufferers of the newest plague to hit the continent. That newest plague, an outbreak of E. Coli, has started to spread rapidly across the continent with at least 1600 people sickened and 18 dead. Already many governments have taken steps to restrict food imports from other countries, but many fear that the actions could be too late as it continues to appear in multiple countries, possibly bringing about a new black plague in the modern era.
"This is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before. This new strain has various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing than natural E. Coli strains. The fact that that it has become so widespread so quickly is also very much a concern, particularly as we haven’t been able to locate the precise source of the spread,” said a spokesperson for the World Health Organization. “It is a particularly tricky beast and it could very well spread much further before we are able to lock down a source and an effective treatment. In the interim it is likely that many more people could become ill.”
Russia, England, and Spain have all put severe restrictions on imports of fruit and vegetables.
“It is unlikely that this outbreak will do damage on the level of previous plagues, but I would imagine that was exactly what experts believed when the last one broke out, or when the flu pandemic hit in the early part of the 20th century. It’s really tough to predict the path of these things and that can cause panic, which given Europe’s current state of affairs is not going to help,” said Scrape TV Apocalypse analyst Seth Morris. “Economic woes, riots, and infighting are all bad things in a delicate structure like the European Union, particularly given the history of the countries in that region. They are prone to overreacting to things on occasion and causing a lot of problems, and this is exactly the type of thing which could spark a major problem.”
A number of countries have recently spoken of seceding from the continent due to economic and social concerns.
“There’s a lot to lose in Europe right now and there is a lot to gain from sticking together, but as we have seen in the past, those kinds of intellectualisms rarely mean much faced with empty stomachs and mass death all around you. It’s possible that such things could prompt people to act a little funny,” continued Morris. “Generally speaking E. coli is not the type of formidable bug that could cause complete collapse, but history only matters if it doesn’t happen again. And this may be happening again.”
German officials are apparently currently looking for someone to blame for the outbreak.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
NEWS > HEALTH > EUROPE ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE AS SUPERBUG SPREADS
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