In the past few decades, the world has been challenged with outbreaks of viruses that are not only deadly but have the potential to become pandemics. And in case you didn't know, a pandemic is a disease prevalent over a whole country and in some cases the whole world. For example; the Bubonic plague was the cause of the black death that swept through Asia, Europe, and Africa in the 14th century and killed an estimated 50 million people. This was about 25% to 60% of the European population.

In 1910-1911 the sixth cholera pandemic swept through India killing over 800,000 before spreading to the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia. This was also the last American outbreak of cholera in America. Health authorities took the knowledge from previous outbreaks and quickly isolated the infected and only 11 deaths occurred in the United States.

So why is the world now in such an uproar over this virus? Can it be that the initial spread of the virus was kept from the public? Of course, not telling the public about a medical issue that could kill you and your family is a big problem. Can it be that the United States government administration is inept in addition to being science deniers?

What about the theory that mother nature has taken another swipe at us and trying to balance the scale a bit before we destroy the earth? I know it sounds a bit pragmatic and even a little cynical. However, as I did the research on pandemics and other viruses or diseases that killed large populations has happened a decade after decade. Many epidemics taking lives in the hundreds of thousands. Depending on the type of pandemic and the people responsible for protecting the population seems to be a defining factor of the number of deaths, for example, AID/HIV.

The coronavirus is going to invade our lives for the next few months and may not be the kind of virus that disappears entirely and returns next year during our annual cold and flu season. My suggestion is to keep your common sense and keep your environment clean and healthy and you will be able to survive this.

My favorite piece of advice came from a reporter from Louisiana she wrote in an article about the coronavirus, "Wash your hands like you just finished eating crawfish and you need to take out your contracts." Now, the idea that people need to be reminded to wash their hands gives me the heebie-jeebies. However, please everyone, wash your hands do it often and according to the recent media, suggestions sing the "Happy Birthday Song" while scrubbing and not just your hands work the lather up to your wrist.

Now as a young girl I was taught to cover my mouth with my hand to cough and sneeze, and yes, I am aware that is why and how germs are spread. These days the suggestion is turning your head and coughing or sneezing into the crook of your elbow. There are still many out there that don't have that practice of covering their mouth during a coughing episode or an unexpected sneeze. But walking around with a face mask on because your co-workers are spewing microbeads of infection into the air is not possible or professional.

We all have that co-worker or family member that is the germ police and calls out everyone who sneezes and doesn't cover their face, or coughs in their direction. They have a gallon bucket of hand sanitizer on their desk or in their car, as well as a huge container of sanitizing wipes. They try every vitamin and supplement even though chances are they are not the healthiest people in the room. At this point, they are in a panic that no matter what they do they will get this virus, but chances are they will never go outside their comfort zone to come across someone with it. But my suggestion is to steer clear and try to avoid confrontation.

This too shall pass, just don't overthink or be overwhelmed by the media. These days it seems the media and politics have an effect on all aspects of our lives and when they start blaming a virus on a political party or a previous administration than how can we all feel confident that they know how to control the outbreak?