Grey seal pup “Nikolaus” licks a window at the seal enclosure in Friedrichskoog, Germany, 19 December 2014. The pup was abandoned by his mother and would not have a chance at survival without human help. Nikolaus will be fed at the enclosure for two to three months until he has reached the minimum weight of 45 kilograms for being released. (Photo by Daniel Reinhardt/EPA)

South Korean girl group KARA arrive during the 21st High1 Seoul Music Awards at Olympic gymnasium on January 19, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A girl dressed as a living goddess “Kumari” poses for a photograph before taking part in the “Kumari Puja” rituals at the Hanuman Dhoka at Durbar Square in Kathmandu on September 27, 2023. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

Children are seen on a bike after Muslims in Nigeria perform Eid prayer following the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nasarawa on May 24, 2020. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

Admirers of Peruvian clown William Rojas, known professionally as “Chupetin”, carry his coffin during his funeral procession to the Eternal Hope cemetery in Huancayo, Peru, on July 2, 2020. Rojas, 45, died from COVID-19 after five days of being in intensive care. Peru surpassed 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday, the health ministry said, a day after the government began easing a national lockdown in a bid to revive the economy. (Photo by Pedro Tinoco/AFP Photo)

“Left behind” children Luo Hongni, 11 (L) and brother Luo Gan,10, carry flowers to be used as feed while doing chores in the fields on December 18, 2016 in Anshun, China. Like millions of Chinese children, the four Luo siblings are being raised by their grandparents in rural China as their parents left to find work in urban areas. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The civilised world lies on its knees, a sickness wracking its body. The affliction causes a necrotising of tissues so perfectly uniform in distribution that victims take on the appearance of corpses long before death occurs due to organ failure or secondary infections. ...