The Great Epidemics in History

We inhabit an unstable planet; the continental masses are in permanent movement, breaking up to separate or approaching each other.This displacement translates into earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, alteration of ocean currents and the formation and elevation of mountain ranges, all of which profoundly affect the climate, forcing evolutions, the emergence of new species or extinctions, sometimes mass extinctions.When we mention evolution, we usually assume that it affects large forms of life, we are inclined to leave aside microscopic beings to contemplate with fascination the transformation of animals that originated the great saurians or, more recently, the amazing evolution that led to the whale, mammals and the Human Being.However, it is interesting to note that what for a mammal is just a handful of days, or a month, for a virus represents a sufficient number of generations to complete an adaptation to new environments.Bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa... microscopic life evolves at a mind-boggling rate when compared to the adaptation of larger species, such as humans. That is why the smallest creatures, which were always harmless using Man as a host, suddenly became a deadly virus for Mankind, who often did not even notice the subtle change in their environment... causing the rapid evolution of the smallest forms of life.Before the rise of mankind, we find evidence suggesting great epidemics.In the ten million years of the Pliocene Period, which began 12,000,000 B.C., the union of the two Americas occurred, dramatically affecting ocean currents and consequently the world’s climate.The rigorous Ice Age, and its intermediate periods with mild temperatures, forced the evolution of fauna and flora all over the planet, Humanity also adapted and diversified, evolving towards new varieties, paying a high price for it. 2,050,000 - Africa: the oldest evidence of bone tumor in a human fossil, a child Australopithecus Sediba. 1,700,000 - Africa: definitive evidence of a malignant cancer in a hominid or bipedal human was found in the South African cave of Swartkrans.5200- Heidelberg, Germany: first evidence of tuberculosis in humans.2995- Sudan: fossil with the oldest evidence of death by cancer recorded by history. 2210- Egypt: the corpse of a woman is the earliest recorded case of breast cancer in history... ...