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35-479: The tradition of the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival can be traced back to Kyōhō famine in 1732, when fireworks were launched as part of festivals for the dead. The country was in an economic crisis, and the people suffered from famine and disease to a greater degree than normal. Thus, the rituals and celebrations in which the fireworks took part played multiple roles. These were mourning observances for

70-485: A cash crop and reduced diversity of Japanese crops. The scarcity of sesame oil and whale oil for treating seeds may have contributed to the severity of the later insect infestation . Starting in December 1731 heavy rains damaged the winter cereal crops ( wheat and barley ) and communities had difficulty re-planting fields because seed reserves had been diminished by years of marginal harvests. From May to June 1732,

105-429: A common source exposure or an environmental vector may spread a zoonotic diseases agent. Preparations for an epidemic include having a disease surveillance system; the ability to quickly dispatch emergency workers, especially local-based emergency workers; and a legitimate way to guarantee the safety and health of health workers. Effective preparations for a response to a pandemic are multi-layered. The first layer

140-449: A disease epidemic. By the early 17th century, the terms endemic and epidemic referred to contrasting conditions of population-level disease, with the endemic condition a " common sicknesse " and the epidemic " hapning in some region, or countrey, at a certaine time, ....... producing in all sorts of people, one and the same kind of sicknesse ". The term "epidemic" is often applied to diseases in non-human animals, although " epizootic "

175-600: A fast-spreading pandemic may easily exceed and overwhelm existing health-care resources. Consequently, early and aggressive mitigation efforts, aimed at the so-called "epidemic curve flattening" need to be taken. Such measures usually consist on non-pharmacological interventions such as social/physical distancing, aggressive contact tracing, "stay-at-home" orders, as well as appropriate personal protective equipment (i.e., masks, gloves, and other physical barriers to spread). Moreover, India has taken significant strides in its efforts to prepare for future respiratory pandemics through

210-445: A period of time; an evolutionary change which increases survival time will result in increased virulence. Another possibility, although rare, is that a pathogen may adapt to take advantage of a new mode of transmission Seasonal diseases arise due to the change in the environmental conditions, especially such as humidity and temperature, during different seasons. Many diseases display seasonality , This may be due to one or more of

245-424: A substantial number of people, it may be termed as a pandemic . The declaration of an epidemic usually requires a good understanding of a baseline rate of incidence ; epidemics for certain diseases, such as influenza , are defined as reaching some defined increase in incidence above this baseline. A few cases of a very rare disease may be classified as an epidemic, while many cases of a common disease (such as

280-503: A word form attributed to Homer 's Odyssey , which later took its medical meaning from the Epidemics , a treatise by Hippocrates . Before Hippocrates, epidemios , epidemeo , epidamos , and other variants had meanings similar to the current definitions of " indigenous " or " endemic ". Thucydides ' description of the Plague of Athens is considered one of the earliest accounts of

315-427: Is a disease surveillance system. Tanzania , for example, runs a national lab that runs testing for 200 health sites and tracks the spread of infectious diseases. The next layer is the actual response to an emergency. According to U.S.-based columnist Michael Gerson in 2015, only the U.S. military and NATO have the global capability to respond to such an emergency. Still, despite the most extensive preparatory measures,

350-713: Is abrupt - in this, two or more different strains of a virus , coinfecting a single host, combine to form a new subtype having a mixture of characteristics of the original strains. The best known and best documented example of both processes is influenza . SARS-CoV2 has demonstrated antigenic drift and possibly shift as well. Antibiotic resistance applies specifically to bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics . Resistance in bacteria can arise naturally by genetic mutation , or by one species acquiring resistance from another through horizontal gene transfer . Extended use of antibiotics appears to encourage selection for mutations which can render antibiotics ineffective. This

385-421: Is especially true of tuberculosis , with increasing occurrence of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) worldwide. Pathogen transmission is a term used to describe the mechanisms by which a disease-causing agent (virus, bacterium, or parasite) spreads from one host to another. Common modes of transmission include: - The first three of these require that pathogen must survive away from its host for

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420-597: Is likely an exaggeration and is not confirmed by other sources. The role of sweet potato (smuggled in 1711 by Asami Kichijūrō Hidetaka  [ ja ] from Satsuma Domain ) in averting famine at Ōmishima  [ ja ] in the Seto Inland Sea region was noted and the sweet potato was consequently widely adopted across Japan. The Shogunate implemented in 1735 reforms to diversify crops. Peasants were allowed to grow cash crops or technical crops (oil or fiber plants) in exchange for paying extra taxes. It

455-400: Is not immune. An example of this was the introduction European diseases such as smallpox into indigenous populations during the 16th century. A zoonosis is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen that can jump from a non-human host to a human. Major diseases such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis are zoonoses. HIV was a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans in

490-634: Is speculated that the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival was established in response to the Kyōhō famine . The Kyōhō famine had a large negative impact on the Kyōhō Reforms . This article incorporates material from the article 享保の大飢饉 in the Japanese Misplaced Pages, retrieved on 5 July 2017. Epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί epi "upon or above" and δῆμος demos "people")

525-417: Is technically preferable. There are several factors that may contribute (individually or in combination) to causing an epidemic. There may be changes in a pathogen , in the population that it can infect, in the environment, or in the interaction between all three. Factors include the following: An antigen is a protein on the virus ' surface that host antibodies can recognize and attack. Changes in

560-439: Is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infections , an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic. Epidemics of infectious disease are generally caused by several factors including a change in the ecology of the host population (e.g., increased stress or increase in

595-479: Is usually restricted to smaller events. Any sudden increase in disease prevalence may generally be termed an epidemic. This may include contagious disease (i.e. easily spread between persons) such as influenza ; vector-borne diseases such as malaria ; water-borne diseases such as cholera ; and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS . The term can also be used for non-communicable health issues such as obesity . The term epidemic derives from

630-463: The antigenic characteristics of the agent make it easier for the changed virus to spread throughout a previously immune population. There are two natural mechanisms for change - antigenic drift and antigenic shift . Antigenic drift arises over a period of time as an accumulation of mutations in the virus genes , possibly through a series of hosts, and eventually gives rise to a new strain of virus which can evade existing immunity. Antigenic shift

665-435: The common cold ) would not. An epidemic can cause enormous damage through financial and economic losses in addition to impaired health and loss of life. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines epidemic broadly: "Epidemic refers to an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area." The term "outbreak" can also apply, but

700-574: The Kagiya, Tamaya caused a major fire in 1843, and the official support for the guild evaporated. The fireworks festivals, if they were to continue, would be moved further from the city, to a more remote and thus safer location. The tradition survived the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, and continued nearly every year until it dropped off in the 1920s, and ceased entirely during World War II and for several decades afterwards. Finally, in 1978,

735-631: The cold, wet weather continued for two months in the Chūgoku , Shikoku , and Kyushu regions, resulting in favourable conditions for the proliferation of insects and caused rice seedlings to rot. Either an unka (insect)  [ ja ] (a type of insect found in Japan) or a locust infestation appeared in the Seto Inland Sea region and proceeded to destroy rice paddies across western Japan, leaving only 10% of crops unaffected. The total rice harvest in Japan in 1732

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770-450: The competition. Each guild would try to impress the onlookers, out-doing the other guild, in order to gain popularity and support. The number of onlookers steadily grew, and they began to shout out the names (see yagō ) of their favorite fireworks artists. It has become a part of Japanese culture to yell "tamaya" while watching fireworks. Though the Tamaya came to enjoy steady popularity over

805-415: The dead, as well as celebrations of life, and entertainment for the poverty-stricken masses. Originally called Ryōgoku Kawabiraki ( 両国川開 ) , the display had become an established tradition by 1810, and rivalries began to emerge over control of each year's festival. The Tamaya ( 玉屋 ) and Kagiya ( 鍵屋 ) guilds of pyrotechnicians quickly became the two major rivals, initiating the tradition of

840-524: The density of a vector species), a genetic change in the pathogen reservoir or the introduction of an emerging pathogen to a host population (by movement of pathogen or host). Generally, an epidemic occurs when host immunity to either an established pathogen or newly emerging novel pathogen is suddenly reduced below that found in the endemic equilibrium and the transmission threshold is exceeded. An epidemic may be restricted to one location; however, if it spreads to other countries or continents and affects

875-599: The development of the National Pandemic Preparedness Plan for Respiratory Viruses using a multisectoral approach. Preceding this national effort, a regional workshop on the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative was organized by WHO's South-East Asia Regional Office on October 12-13, 2023. Recognizing that the same capacities and capabilities can be leveraged and applied for groups of pathogens based on their mode of transmission,

910-408: The early part of the 20th century, though it has now evolved into a separate human-only disease. Some strains of bird flu and swine flu are zoonoses; these viruses occasionally recombine with human strains of the flu and can cause pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu or the 2009 swine flu . In a common source outbreak epidemic, the affected individuals had an exposure to a common agent. If

945-650: The exposure is singular and all of the affected individuals develop the disease over a single exposure and incubation course, it can be termed as a point source outbreak. If the exposure was continuous or variable, it can be termed as a continuous outbreak or intermittent outbreak, respectively. In a propagated outbreak, the disease spreads person-to-person. Affected individuals may become independent reservoirs leading to further exposures. Many epidemics will have characteristics of both common source and propagated outbreaks (sometimes referred to as mixed outbreak ). For example, secondary person-to-person spread may occur after

980-403: The following underlying factors: - Changes in behaviour can affect the likelihood or severity of epidemics. The classic example is the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak , in which a cholera outbreak was mitigated by removing a supply of contaminated water - an event now regarded as the foundation of the science of epidemiology . Urbanisation and overcrowding (e.g. in refugee camps ) increase

1015-404: The following years, immunity will decline, both within individuals and in the population as a whole as older individuals die and new individuals are born. Eventually, unless there is another vaccination campaign, an outbreak or epidemic will recur. It's also possible for disease which is endemic in one population to become epidemic if it is introduced into a novel setting where the host population

1050-620: The household utensils and rice sacks of merchant Takama Denbii ( 高間伝兵衛 ) were thrown into the river by a farmer mob of 1,700 men enraged by rumours of him hoarding food, in the event known in Japan as Kyōhō housebreaking  [ ja ] - Japan's first recorded strike action . The famine gradually ended in March 1733. According to official records, the death toll was 12,172. Actual death toll may have reached 169,000. The number of 969,900 deaths provided in Tokugawa Jikki  [ ja ]

1085-415: The likelihood of disease outbreaks. A factor which contributed to the initial rapid increase in the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic was ritual bathing of (infective) corpses; one of the control measures was an education campaign to change behaviour around funeral rites. The level of immunity to a disease in a population - herd immunity - is at its peak after a disease outbreak or a vaccination campaign. In

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1120-630: The reign of Emperor Nakamikado in the Edo period . It is estimated that 12,172-169,000 people died from starvation. The famine, named after the Kyōhō era (1716–1736), is considered to have begun in 1732 and lasted until 1733. The ruling shōgun during the famine was Tokugawa Yoshimune . The cause of the famine is not known. The Kyōhō Reforms ruling in 1728 increased taxes from 40% to 50% may have reduced agricultural productivity and food stocks. The 1730 ruling, introducing obligatory rice buying quotas for Han estate owners and wealthy merchants, turned rice into

1155-468: The tradition was reinstated, and continues to this day. The 2011 festival was postponed until August 27 in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . In 2018 the festival was postponed to the following day (Sunday) due to bad weather from Typhoon Jongdari . Ky%C5%8Dh%C5%8D famine The Kyōhō famine (享保の大飢饉, Kyōhō no daikikin), was a famine on the Japanese island of Kyushu during

1190-590: Was 20% (66,000 of 320,000), while inland villages suffered less than 10% deaths. The majority of deaths were among children. Southern Kyushu was affected, but the mortality was less than in Northern Kyushu . At least 5919 deaths from starvation were recorded in Iyo-Matsuyama Domain , where people resorted to eating bracken and kudzu roots, straw and wood flour . During the New Year celebrations of 1733,

1225-551: Was 630,000 koku - only 27% of average. Also, an epizootic (an epidemic among animals) broke out in July 1732, that affected draft animals in Fukuoka Domain . The prices of rice soared, reaching 5 to 7 times the normal value during the peak of the famine. Consequently, fishing villages relying on cash products to purchase food were hit hard, losing up to one third of the population. Average population die-off reported in Fukuoka Domain

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