So, I'm writing a Sci-Fi that involves the mass outbreak of a prion disease. In order to model what social effects this might have, I want to look ad mass outbreaks of disease through history, and see how society reacted to them.
The Bubonic plague is an obvious starting point, but I'm also looking at the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic and the AIDS scares. I'm wondering if there are any other mass outbreaks that could provide a good model for me to look into.
Also, if anyone happens to know a good book or paper (I can probably get past pay walls through my university) that addresses the response to and effects of mass outbreaks, a recommendation would be fantastic.
I'll throw you three book recommendations. The first is The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco, by Marilyn Chase. It's a fascinating look at how race played a significant role in the spread of the bubonic plague in San Francisco at the start of the 20th century and how civic leaders actively tried to conceal the epidemic.
The second book is The Great Mortality by John Kelly. It's a doorstopper, but it's my favorite history of the Black Death. It's well-cited and has some great information. It's not as new as I'd like ─ there's plenty of genetic analysis done recently that would've been great to include ─ but his history seems spot-on.
The third book is relevant to my field. It's Chills and Fever: Health and Disease in the Early History of Alaska, by Robert Fortuine. It's the best disease history ever written for Alaska, and it runs the gamut from smallpox to the diseases brought by Klondike (and Nome) stampeders to Spanish Influenza, tuberculosis and modern social epidemics like alcohol and smoking.