Photo/Illutration An electron microscope shows monkeypox virions. (Provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

"The Masque of the Red Death," a short story published in 1842 by American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), depicts a fictional plague that causes "sharp pains, sudden dizziness and profuse bleeding at the pores" and kills its victims within half an hour.

Poe was familiar with the virulence of cholera that was sweeping Europe at the time.

The protagonist is Prince Prospero, an arrogant aristocrat who walls off his castle and holds a lavish masquerade ball for his guests while the pestilence, called the Red Death, continues to decimate half the population of his fief.

The ball, itself, is more grotesque than the plague.

When I first heard of monkeypox in late May, the name was as unfamiliar to me as the Red Death. My mind went to horrifying images of violent simians attacking humans, but the virus is also carried by squirrels and mice.

Initially, I thought of the contagion as something occurring only in distant countries, but Japan confirmed its first case of monkeypox on July 25.

And lately, there's "Centaurus," too.

In ancient Greek mythology, the name refers to creatures that are half-man, half-horse.

But in the context of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Centaurus is the nickname of an Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.75 in the scientific community.

It was identified in India last month and in Japan this month.

The moniker spread on social media, reflecting people's fear of damage by this new subvariant. However, its levels of contagiousness and virulence have yet to be determined.

It was only last month that I really started hoping that the pandemic would be brought under control at long last. New cases were decreasing, and the government was easing immigration controls.

But how quickly our days of anxiety have returned. I stared at an application form for my second COVID-19 booster, mailed to me from the local "hokenjo" public health center.

In Poe's tale, a guest dressed in a blood-splattered robe shows up at the ball and turns out to be the Red Death personified.

Excessive optimism and excessive pessimism are both taboo when dealing with a virus--Poe's short story of 180 years ago tells us the basics of how to avoid infection.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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