The Past is Prologue

Question: Summary Shakespeare once wrote that, "The past is prologue." But what does that mean? History is a constant influence on the present, giving us a guide to what is going on now and a context through which to view what is happening at any given moment. Find a current newspaper article on a current event in Africa, South America, or Asia.write a summary of the article and explain how it fits into a historical context. Answer: Currently, the biggest and most dangerous outbreak of disease took place in a number of countries in West Africa (Peters, 2012). There have been a significant number of deaths as a result of this epidemic and the news article that was published on the 24th February, 2015 by the Aljaeera focused on this issue. The article focused on the research conducted by the scientists from the entire world who are working faster to bring out the best treatment for this rare disease. Further the article states that the United Nations Ebola Mission is further insisting that the world should not panic over the issue as the number of cases has been dropping gradually. Later the article discusses on the origin of the Ebola virus and the statistics related to the number of people affected. With the help of this article this study tends to search for the historical elements that are relevant to the present day regarding the issue of Ebola. The history of West Africa depicts that in the historical times disease has been a major hindrance to the development in this area. Throughout history there were immense outbreaks of epidemics in this region in Africa. Before the rise of the slave trade most West African population gathered to achieve the ecological balance with the help of controlling vegetation and hence decreasing the level of local diseases (Fage, 1978). In the present day, scientists are using this information with regard to their ways of decreasing the outbreak of diseases in order to fight the present epidemic of Ebola. (America.aljazeera.com, 2015) References America.aljazeera.com, (2015).Ebola: By the numbers | Al Jazeera America. [online] Available at: https://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/techknow/articles/2015/2/24/ebola-by-the-numbers.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2015]. Fage, J. (1978).A history of Africa. New York: Knopf. Peters, K. (2012). Youth, Wars and Violence in West Africa.History Compass, 10(12), pp.879-888.