Articles on History of pandemics

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The World Uncertainty Index is a measure that tracks uncertainty across 143 nations by text mining the country-specific reports of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Skorzewiak/Shutterstock

Global uncertainty is the new normal. Here’s why institutional legitimacy and resilience is crucial

Geopolitical and economic uncertainty topped the G7 summit agenda. The world needs strong, inclusive international institutions more than ever.
Passengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. AP Photo/Uncredited

From medieval plague ships to hantavirus: How outbreaks at sea helped to shape the international public health system

To stop the spread of infectious diseases, governments need information and other resources that countries around the globe share through international organizations.
Burying Black Death Victims in Tournai, Belgium. Gilles Li Muisis, Annales, Bibliothèque Royal de Belgique, MS 13076-77, f. 24v.

The Black Death was not as widespread or catastrophic as long thought – new study

The Black Death is believed to have been the most devastating pandemic in Europe’s history. Now paleoecologists and historians have cast doubt on how bad it was.
The iconography of the Pestsäule in Vienna indicates that the plague the city suffered was viewed as punishment for sin. Noppasin Wongchum / iStock via Getty images

Will there be a monument to the COVID‑19 pandemic?

Although memorials to past pandemics are not as prolific as war memorials, they do exist. A scholar of visual culture provides a brief history of monuments around the world.

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