ABSTRACT
Although not very well understood, diseases were perceived as being contagious from very early times. The Bible contains many references to epidemics and the spread of disease, and the quarantine regulations which were enforced in an attempt to control them. In Europe, with the rise of trade, public health measures were instituted which were aimed at halting the spread of infection. Because the mechanisms of disease transmission were unknown, many of the regulations were useless and caused unnecessary hardship, which made them very unpopular.
