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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. An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time; in meningococcal ...
25,000,000 – 50,000,000 (estimated) The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as 50 million people [2] perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. [3] The disease is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread by ...
- Antiquity
- First Pandemic: Early Middle Ages
- Second Pandemic: from 14th Century to 19th Century
- Third Pandemic: 19th and 20th Centuries
- Modern Cases
The word plague is believed to come from the Latin word plāga ("blow, wound") and plangere (“to strike, or to strike down”), via the German Plage (“infestation”).[citation needed] Some authors have suggested that the plague was responsible for the Neolithic decline. That is supported by the discovery of a tomb in modern-day Sweden containing 79 cor...
The Plague of Justinian in AD 541–542 is the first known attack on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague. This disease is thought to have originated in China. It then spread to Africa from where the huge city of Constantinople imported massive amounts of grain, mostly from Egypt, to feed its citizens. The grain ships...
From 1331 to 1351, the Black Death, a massive and deadly pandemic originating in China, spread along the Silk Road and swept through Asia, Europe and Africa. It may have reduced the world's population from 450 million to between 350 and 375 million. China lost around half of its population, from around 123 million to around 65 million; Europe aroun...
The Third Pandemic began in China's Yunnan province in 1855, spreading plague to all inhabited continents and ultimately killing more than 12 million people in India and China alone. Casualty patterns indicate that waves of this pandemic may have come from two different sources. The first was primarily bubonic and was carried around the world throu...
Plague cases were massively reduced during the second half of the 20th century, but outbreaks still occurred, especially in developing countries. Between 1954 and 1997, human plague was reported in 38 countries, making the disease a re-emerging threat to human health. Between 1987 and 2001, 36,876 confirmed cases of plague with 2,847 deaths are rep...
Nov 15, 2021 · History’s Seven Deadliest Plagues. SARS-CoV-2 has officially claimed 5 million lives, but credible estimates place the pandemic’s true death toll closer to 17 million. Either count secures COVID-19’s position on our list of history’s deadliest plagues. A masquerade historical scene reconstruction. Plague doctor in medieval old town.
- Dave Roos
- Plague of Justinian—No One Left to Die. Yersinia pestis, formerly pasteurella pestis, was the bacteria responsible for the plague. Here it's seen under optical microscopy X 1000.
- Black Death—The Invention of Quarantine. The people of Tournai bury victims of the Black Death circa 1353. The plague never really went away, and when it returned 800 years later, it killed with reckless abandon.
- The Great Plague of London—Sealing Up the Sick. Scenes in the streets of London during the Great Plague of 1665. London never really caught a break after the Black Death.
- Smallpox—A European Disease Ravages the New World. Smallpox was endemic to Europe, Asia and Arabia for centuries, a persistent menace that killed three out of ten people it infected and left the rest with pockmarked scars.
Jan 31, 2023 · Here are 21 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history, dating from prehistoric to modern times. Related:Spanish Flu: The deadliest pandemic in history. 1. Prehistoric epidemic: Circa 3000 B ...
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Apr 16, 2020 · One of the worst plagues in history arrived at Europe's shores in 1347. Five years later, some 25 to 50 million people were dead. By: John Seven. Updated: May 16, 2023 | Original: April 16, 2020.
