/oss/taxonomy/term/4537/all en /oss/article/covid-19-health-history/contact-tracing-key-solving-spread-infectious-disease <p>Today it is COVID-19 that is sowing panic around the world but in 19th century England the fear was of cholera, a dreadful disease. It causes diarrhea so severe that a victim can lose as much as ten liters of water in a day. If untreated, it can lead to rapid dehydration and death within a few days. The disease first appeared in Europe in 1831, an undesired import from the Indian subcontinent where it was endemic. Over 50,000 Britons died within a year, causing widespread panic. Physicians didn’t know what to do.</p> Wed, 20 May 2020 19:18:03 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8253 at /oss