This gets personal, meaning in this episode we really get under the skin with something that is a threat to us all, wherever we live. The epidemic and its global big brother the pandemic. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes and all the cataclysms that threaten human life: all of them are terrifying in their own way. But perhaps nothing is more chilling the threat of disease. In recent times, the threat of not merely an epidemic, but a pandemic which could annihilate mankind has somehow never seemed more real. But before we hit the Panic Button, let’s brace ourselves by calmly and coolly examining the facts. That means squaring up to the realities of Ebola and Cholera in Africa, SARS and Bird Flu, principally in Asia, but with potential to go global in a flash. There is Smallpox we seem to have defeated, but that’s what was thought about Cholera just a few years back - and Cholera has had a resurgence recently. If we are as a species are to endure, we have to be ever vigilant as individuals - don’t forget to wash your hands before you handle food for example. But we must also be able to act collectively, when the germ warfare is literal - because epidemics don’t recognize territorial borders.