That's a good question. I can imagine that there was a time before there was life on Earth, and then clearly there was a time X-hundred thousand years or a million years later when there were things that we would all recognize as biological.
A high count indicates the presence of inflammation in the body. Because white blood cells are calculated by the number of cells per volume of blood, test results can vary between labs. Different labs use different degrees of measurements for the white blood cell count.
Possible causes of an increased white blood cell count. Infections, viruses or bacteria. When we catch the flu, a virus or an infection, our body reacts by increasing the number of white blood cells to fight the foreign bodies and maintain health. Anaemia can also produce an increase in white blood cells.