Environment is in Peril;
Unknown Enemy on Prowl
By Neeraj Bajpai
This year, the world recalls
nightmarish memories of 1918
pandemic of influenza and screen
through popular movie “Unknown
Enemy” on its first anniversary.
“I had a little bird, its name was
Informatively, the 1918 flu pandemic
(January 1918 – December 1920)
was an unusually deadly influenza
pandemic.
Researchers say it
infected 500 million people around
the world, including people on
remote Pacific islands and in the
Arctic, and resulted in the death
of 50 to 100 million (three to five
percent of the world's population).
Disease had greatly limited life
expectancy in the early 20th
century, most influenza outbreaks
disproportionately kill juvenile,
elderly, or already weakened
patients; in contrast, the 1918
pandemic predominantly killed
She is not a wizard in crystal
grazing to forecast future events,
The Emmy award winning film-
maker Janet Tobia told InnoHEALTH
Magazine that her movie Unseen
Enemy examines why in the 21st
century we are experiencing a rash
of diseases that were once only
outbreaks but have now become
full-blown epidemics.
Enza, I opened the window, and
in–flu-enza, was popular rhyme of
children while skipping ropes in
those outrageous days.
It all sounds scaring, but it is a
stark reality given facts on the
ground which are almost ready for
such a grim situation if corrective
measures are not effected in time.
but certainly, she is a visionary,
and envisions that the specter of
diseases will loom over the planet
earth in future. She is no one else
but Janet Tobia who has won laurels
for her documentary ”Unseen
Enemy”.
I
n the 21st century, we are
all
connected.
Population
growth, mass urbanization,
deforestation,
climate
change and increased travel have
dramatically increased the risk
that familiar diseases will spread
and mutate, and new ones will
emerge. As people enter new
spheres of biodiversity, they come
in closer contact with other species,
increasing the risk of viruses
jumping from animals to humans,
and then spreading more widely.
100 Years on Unknown Enemy stares surreptitiously; Janet Tobia flags issue afresh
to stave off flu specter looming large on globe.
Volume 3 | Issue 3 | July-September 2018
27