4 years ago
1. Prehistoric epidemic: Circa 3000 B.C.
This prehistoric epidemic is said to have wiped out an entire village in China. They were all buried in a now archaeological site called ‘Hamin Mangha’
2. Plague of Athens: 430 B.C.
This epidemic, which is said to have killed around 100000 happened not long after the war between Athens and Sparta.
The Greek historian Thucydides (460-400 B.C.) wrote that "people in good health were all of a sudden attacked by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitting an unnatural and fetid breath" (translation by Richard Crawley from the book "The History of the Peloponnesian War," London Dent, 1914).
The cause of the pandemic has been suggested to be either typhoid fever or Ebola.
3. Antonine Plague: A.D. 165-180
Believed to have been brought to the Roman Empire by soldiers returning from war against Partha, this epidemic is thought to have killed over 5 million people in the entire Empire.
4. Plague of Cyprian: A.D. 250-271
This plague is estimated to have killed 5000 people a day in Rome alone. It was named after St. Cyprian, a bishop of Carthage(a city in Tunisia) who described the epidemic as signalling the end of the world.
5. Plague of Justinian: A.D. 541-542
This plague named after the then Emperor of the Byzantine Empire is suggested to have killed almost 10% of the world’s population. The Byzantine Empire, stretching from the Middle East to Western Europe gradually lost its territory after the plague struck.
6. The Black Death: 1346-1353
This plague which changed the course of European history was caused by a strain of bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is likely extinct today was spread from fleas or infected rodents.Some estimates suggest that it wiped out over half of Europe’s population making labor hard to find. This plague is said to have traveled to Europe from Asia.
7. Cocoliztli epidemic: 1545-1548
This epidemic was caused by a form of viral hemorrhagic fever that killed 15 million inhabitants of Mexico and Central America.A recent study found that the victims were infected with a subspecies of Salmonella which causes enteric fever, a category of fever that includes typhoid, which is still a major health threat today.
8. American Plagues: 16th century
American plagues are a cluster of Eurasian diseases including smallpox, brought to the Americas by the Europeans. These set of diseases contributed to the collapse of the Inca and Aztec civilizations. Some estimates suggest that about 90% of the Western Hemisphere perished due to these diseases.
9. Great Plague of London: 1665-1666
Thought to be the last major outbreak of the Black Death, Great Plague of London started in April 1665 and spread rapidly. The main cause of transmission were the fleas from plague-infected rodents. By the time the plague ended, about 100000 people, including 15% of London had died.
10. Great Plague of Marseille: 1720-1723
Historical records say that the Great Plague of Marselle started when a ship called Grand-Saint-Antoine docked in Marseille, France, carrying a cargo of goods from the Eastern Mediterranean.
Although the ship was quarantined, plague still got into the city,likely through fleas on plague infected rodents. Over the next three years as many as 100000 people may have died in Marseille and surrounding areas. It’s estimated that up to 30% of the population of Marseille may have perished.
11. Russian plague: 1770-1772
This plague is said to have killed ma many as 100000 people in Russia.
12. Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic: 1793
Yellow fever, transmitted by mosquitoes killed about 5000 people in Philadelphia in the UUSA.
13. Flu pandemic: 1889-1890
The earliest case of this flu was reported in Russia but spread rapidly throughout the world although air travel didn’t exist then. In a matter of
A polio epidemic that started in New York City caused 27000 cases and 6000 deaths. Polio epidemics occurred sporadically in the United States until the Salik vaccine was developed in 1954. Although worldwide vaccination efforts have greatly reduced the disease, it is not yet completely eradicated.
15. Spanish Flu: 1918-1920
Although named the Spanish Flu, this disease likely did not originate in Spain. An estimated 500 million people from the South Seas to the North Pole fell victim to Spanish Flu, with one fifth of them dying. The disease spread and became lethal due to the crammed conditions of soldires residence and poor wartime nutrition during the World War I.
16. Asian Flu: 1957-1958
Thought to have started in China, Asian Flu pandemic which was a blend of avian flu viruses, claimed more than 1 million lives, including 116000 deaths in the United States.
17. AIDS pandemic and epidemic: 1981-present day
HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS, likely developed from a chimpanzee virus that was transferred to humans in West Africa in the 1920s, has infected about 40 million people of which 64% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Although this disease had no cure for decades, medication developed in the 1990s has helped prolong the lifespan of the infected.
18. H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic: 2009-2010
Originated from Mexico in the spring of 2009 and spread around the world, this virus infected as many as 1.4 billion people and killed between 151700 and 575400 people in a year.A vaccine for the H1N1 virus that caused the swine flu is now included in the annual flu vaccine.
19. West African Ebola epidemic: 2014-2016
The first case reported in Guinea in 2014 this disease lasted till 2016, with 28600 reported cases and 11,325 deaths. There is still no cure for Ebola.
20. Zika Virus epidemic: 2015-present day
The Zika virus epidemic in South and Central America is ongoing and its impact is yet to be evaluated. It is usually spread through mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, although it can also be sexually transmitted in humans.
