Lockdown is among the most commonly used words now, along with “quarantine”. Here’s a look at the words and some stories and histories attached with them.
As per Macmillan dictionary, its origin is of the old English words, “loc” (which refers to fastening something), and “doun”. But the word lockdown itself is being used only since 19th century. However, the instances of quarantine can be found as early as in 14th and 15th century, during the Black Death plague in Europe.
The word quarantine comes from Italian words "quaranta giorni" which mean "forty days". Under this practice, ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to stay in anchor for 40 days before touching the shore. A similar method, of 30-day isolation, was introduced earlier by Adriatic port city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik). The practice continued to be followed in other parts of Europe and the US in various forms.
During the bubonic plague outbreak of 1665, the inhabitants of Eyam village in Derbyshire, England, self-quarantined themselves after a few residents got infected from a bale of clothes sent from London to a tailor. Their heroic act prevented the spread of the plague to other neighbourhoods, though the village lost 250 of its residents in 14 months. One of the villagers, Elizabeth Hancock, buried her husband and six of her seven children over a period of eight days in August 1666. The gravesite is now a British national trust monument.
Another curious quarantine story relates to Mary Mallon, a cook in New York in early 20th century. The first person in the US to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the bacteria that caused typhoid, Mary was believed to have caused 51 cases and 3 deaths, but never had the disease herself. “Typhoid Mary" was quarantined in North Brother island for 23 years, till her death at the age of 69 due to pneumonia.
(Information taken from the Guardian, sciencealert.com, CDC, history.com).
As per Macmillan dictionary, its origin is of the old English words, “loc” (which refers to fastening something), and “doun”. But the word lockdown itself is being used only since 19th century. However, the instances of quarantine can be found as early as in 14th and 15th century, during the Black Death plague in Europe.
The word quarantine comes from Italian words "quaranta giorni" which mean "forty days". Under this practice, ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to stay in anchor for 40 days before touching the shore. A similar method, of 30-day isolation, was introduced earlier by Adriatic port city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik). The practice continued to be followed in other parts of Europe and the US in various forms.
During the bubonic plague outbreak of 1665, the inhabitants of Eyam village in Derbyshire, England, self-quarantined themselves after a few residents got infected from a bale of clothes sent from London to a tailor. Their heroic act prevented the spread of the plague to other neighbourhoods, though the village lost 250 of its residents in 14 months. One of the villagers, Elizabeth Hancock, buried her husband and six of her seven children over a period of eight days in August 1666. The gravesite is now a British national trust monument.
Another curious quarantine story relates to Mary Mallon, a cook in New York in early 20th century. The first person in the US to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the bacteria that caused typhoid, Mary was believed to have caused 51 cases and 3 deaths, but never had the disease herself. “Typhoid Mary" was quarantined in North Brother island for 23 years, till her death at the age of 69 due to pneumonia.
(Information taken from the Guardian, sciencealert.com, CDC, history.com).
No comments:
Post a Comment