In his article “When Panic Goes Viral” written in the November 7th, 2011 issue of Time Magazine, Dr. Oz talks about how he believes that the world will soon face a catastrophic pandemic; however, with the world’s vast technological advances to communicate and the new profound intelligence on diseases, the upcoming pandemic will not be as damaging as older pandemics. Dr. Oz says that the world would have reacted a lot differently to the influenza outbreak of 1918 if there the availability of what people have today, like YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook. Viruses keep evolving, and the spread of disease between animals and humans is inevitable. Dr. Oz suggests people to wash their hands frequently and dry them well in order to prevent catching any unknown diseases. Even though he believes that a pandemic will occur soon in the future, there are many safeguards that will prevent several deaths. For instance, there is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which look over dozens of diseases to keep people safe and informed. The director of CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden, also says that there are more resources than ever to control a disease’s spread.
I never wanted to imagine what it would be like if a pandemic were to break out during my lifetime. The technology and knowledge that people have today always made me feel safe. About two weeks ago, I read an article about a deadly virus that turns caterpillars into zombies. Caterpillars that were affected with the virus would climb to the top of a bush and commit suicide by just splitting in half. The virus would then spread to other caterpillars from the zombie caterpillars guts. Viruses are scary and I hope that a virus this dangerous does not get into humans. Although it would be a bit comedic to see someone climb up to the top of a building, and then suddenly burst into pieces in order to affect other humans with the virus. If this caterpillar virus got into humans, then I’d always be alert with an umbrella in hand.
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