Pandemics and Global Business

New Challenges of Global Business “Pandemics and Global Business”

Contents

1. Introduction Historical Development, Definition and Stages

2. Pandemics through history 2.1. Cholera 2.2. Influenza 2.3. Smallpox 2.4. Measles 2.5. Tuberculosis 2.6. Yellow fewer 2.7. Malaria

3. New diseases of today’s world 3.1. H5N1 – Bird flu 3.2. H1N1 – Swine flu 3.3. HIV/AIDS 3.4. SARS

4. Economic Impact of Diseases

5. Future Outlook

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1. Historical Development, Definition and Stages One of the biggest threats of the earth’s population is unstoppable diseases devastating around the globe and destroying lives, cultures and nations. Along the history many times people had to suffer of epidemics. So happened in 430 BC when the Plague of Athens killed one fourth of the population of Athens in ancient Greece. It is described that the epidemic disease began in Ethiopia, crossed Egypt and Libya and came through trade routes in the Greek world. The plague is not only blamed for the downfall of Athens in the Peloponnesian war but also for the decline of the classical culture of Greece.1 Large parts of Europe were again and again covered by the Black Death in the medieval times and cost millions of lives. The result was dramatic: villages were depopulated, the social life collapsed and trade was reduced to a minimum. The first big plague started in the year 541 and was probably dragged in from the Orient. The second big plague apprehended Europe in 1347 till 1352 and killed 18 – 25 million people which were one third of European population. After that many more waves followed, nearly in every century and till today the plague is exiting. Nowadays the main range is Africa where 180 people died in 2003 and 18 people on Madagascar in 2008.2 The economic consequences of the Black Dead were enormous. Some people got high heritages, so it gave rise in concentration of assets and wealth. Due to the high rate of death it came to a shortage in labour as a result wages increased....