"Fear and mistrust may be one of the greatest challenges authorities face in eliminating infectious diseases."

Coronavirus is the latest round in an age-old struggle

Mistrust and realpolitik complicate efforts to protect public health

"Today’s strategy of containment — one of the key measures deployed against endemic diseases — would be familiar to civil authorities and medical personnel as far back as the ancient world. “Quarantine” has its roots in the Venetian Republic’s 14th century efforts to keep out the plague. But the maritime power would have been hard-pressed to institute a cordon sanitaire on a Chinese scale. The ability to lock down cities the size of Wuhan, which is about as big as London, is a reflection of the power of Beijing’s ever more authoritarian rule. 

Misinformation, and disinformation, are also still prevalent. During the outbreak of Spanish flu in 1918-19, conspiracy theories of enemy bioweapons circulated. An 1853 outbreak of yellow fever in New Orleans was blamed on immigrants. On social media, wild claims are already circulating that the coronavirus was manufactured on behalf of vested interests seeking to sell vaccines. Fear and mistrust may be one of the greatest challenges authorities face in eliminating infectious diseases."