Jim Cornelius of Frontier Partisans and Running Iron Report has a good column on plagues and so forth.
https://runningironreport.com/history-p ... trashed-2/
Some pull quotes
>>>"A bell tolls somewhere deep in side us at the prospect of pandemic disease. While we may not be very good at assessing actual and immediate risk, our fear is not an irrational response.
The prospect of sudden, remorseless illness toppling us and our loved ones is terrifying. Perhaps we share some blood-memory of plagues gone by, for, through all of human history, the Rider on the Pale Horse has borne not a sword, but carried in his train bacteria and virus. And, most assuredly, someday, the Rider will come for us again in earnest…"<<<
>>>"World health organizations know full well that a catastrophic pandemic will happen again. It’s as inevitable as the Cascade Subduction Zone Earthquake. This is why aggressive efforts are made to identify and arrest pandemic disease before it gains too much momentum to control. They are very good at their work, and they have a multitude of tools that have managed to deflect the bullet many times in the modern era. But modern international travel, the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and above all the astounding capacity of viruses to mutate and spread, mean that someday, the Pale Rider will burst forth and he won’t be denied."<<<<
>>>"But before we succumb to existential panic, we might reflect on how extraordinarily resilient human society actually is in the face of pandemic."<<<<