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Pandemics timeline death tolls. This is a list of the largest known epidemics and pandemics caused by an infectious disease in humans. Widespread non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer are not included.
Dec 7, 2023 · Several pandemics have swept through the population repeatedly: in just the last two hundred years, seven major pandemics were caused by cholera, and another seven were caused by the flu. Pandemics devastated millions and left a shadow on those who survived.
- COVID-19 Pandemic 2019. Coronavirus is believed to have originated in Wuhan in China, the virus spread throughout Europe, the rest of Asia, North America and virtually every part of the world within months since it emerged in late 2019.
- SARS (2002-2004) Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was first reported in Guangdong, China in February 2003 although experts believe it started in China as early as November 2002.
- HIV/AIDS (1981) The first case of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was reported in 1981. Since then HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) has spread globally infecting more than 65 million people according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- H3N2 Pandemic (1968) The 1968 flu pandemic was caused by the influenza H3N2 virus. Although relatively not as deadly, the virus was highly contagious that it spread throughout Southeast Asia within two weeks after it first emerged in Hong Kong in July 1968.
- C.: Athens
- D.: Antonine Plague
- D.: Cyprian Plague
- D.: Justinian Plague
- 11th Century: Leprosy
- The Black Death
- The Columbian Exchange
- The Great Plague of London
- First Cholera Pandemic
- The Third Plague Pandemic
The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War. After the disease passed through Libya, Ethiopia and Egypt, it crossed the Athenian walls as the Spartans laid siege. As much as two-thirds of the population died. The symptoms included fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skin and lesions. The disease, suspected to have ...
The Antonine plague was possibly an early appearance of smallpox that began with the Huns. The Huns then infected the Germans, who passed it to the Romans and then returning troops spread it throughout the Roman empire. Symptoms included fever, sore throat, diarrhea and, if the patient lived long enough, pus-filled sores. This plague continued unti...
Named after the first known victim, the Christian bishop of Carthage, the Cyprian plague entailed diarrhea, vomiting, throat ulcers, fever and gangrenous hands and feet. City dwellers fled to the country to escape infection but instead spread the disease further. Possibly starting in Ethiopia, it passed through Northern Africa, into Rome, then onto...
First appearing in Egypt, the Justinian plague spread through Palestine and the Byzantine Empire, and then throughout the Mediterranean. The plague changed the course of the empire, squelching Emperor Justinian's plans to bring the Roman Empire back together and causing massive economic struggle. It is also credited with creating an apocalyptic atm...
Though it had been around for ages, leprosy grew into a pandemic in Europe in the Middle Ages, resulting in the building of numerous leprosy-focused hospitals to accommodate the vast number of victims. A slow-developing bacterial disease that causes sores and deformities, leprosy was believed to be a punishment from God that ran in families. This b...
Responsible for the death of one-third of the world population, this second large outbreak of the bubonic plague possibly started in Asia and moved west in caravans. Entering through Sicily in 1347 A.D. when plague sufferers arrived in the port of Messina, it spread throughout Europe rapidly. Dead bodies became so prevalent that many remained rotti...
Following the arrival of the Spanishin the Caribbean, diseases such as smallpox, measles and bubonic plague were passed along to the native populations by the Europeans. With no previous exposure, these diseases devastated indigenous people, with as many as 90 percent dying throughout the north and south continents. Upon arrival on the island of Hi...
In another devastating appearance, the bubonic plague led to the deaths of 20 percent of London’s population. As human death tolls mounted and mass graves appeared, hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs were slaughtered as the possible cause and the disease spread through ports along the Thames. The worst of the outbreak tapered off in the fall of...
The first of seven cholerapandemics over the next 150 years, this wave of the small intestine infection originated in Russia, where one million people died. Spreading through feces-infected water and food, the bacterium was passed along to British soldiers who brought it to India where millions more died. The reach of the British Empire and its nav...
Starting in China and moving to India and Hong Kong, the bubonic plague claimed 15 million victims. Initially spread by fleas during a mining boom in Yunnan, the plague is considered a factor in the Parthay rebellion and the Taiping rebellion. India faced the most substantial casualties, and the epidemic was used as an excuse for repressive policie...
Jan 15, 2021 · In this paper, we review major pandemics that have afflicted humankind throughout history such as plague, cholera, influenza and coronavirus diseases, the way they were controlled in the past and how these diseases are managed today.
- Jocelyne Piret, Guy Boivin
- 10.3389/fmicb.2020.631736
- 2021
- Front Microbiol. 2020; 11: 631736.
Learn about the history of major disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, as well as the impact vaccines and research had on many infectious diseases.
Sep 20, 2021 · In this article, we review some of the major pandemics that hit humans throughout the centuries. We focus on how they presented, how long they lasted, extent and speed of spread, how they were transmitted, their mortality burden, and how they ended or whether they still represent a threat to humanity.
