Pandemics in human history
Scientists and medical researchers have for years have differed over the exact definition of a pandemic, but one thing everyone agrees on is that the word describes the widespread occurrence of disease, in excess of what might normally be expected in a geographical region.
Cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and influenza are some of the most brutal killers in human history. And outbreaks of these diseases across international borders, are properly defined as pandemic, especially smallpox and plague, which throughout history, have killed around 500 million people.
The following are the most series diseases that have afflicted the world during human history:
COVID-19 has resulted in 13054 deaths as of 23rd March 2020. [The toll is over 27000 as of 28th March 2020. In just five days, the number of deaths have more than doubled.]
MERS (2015 - Present) has caused 850 deaths. EBOLA (2014-16) led to 11000 mortalities. SWINE FLU (2009-10) caused about 200,000 deaths. SARS (2002-03) resulted in 770 deaths.
HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (2005-2012)
Death Toll: 36 million
Cause: HIV/AIDS
First identified in Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, HIV/AIDS has truly proven itself as a global pandemic, killing more than 36 million people since 1981. Currently there are between 31 and 35 million people living with HIV, the vast majority of those are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 5% of the population is infected, roughly 21 million people. As awareness has grown, new treatments have been developed that make HIV far more manageable, and many of those infected go on to lead productive lives.
FLU PANDEMIC (1968)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Influenza
A category 2 Flu pandemic sometimes referred to as “the Hong Kong Flu,” the 1968 flu pandemic was caused by the H3N2 strain of the Influenza A virus, a genetic offshoot of the H2N2 subtype. From the first reported case on July 13, 1968 in Hong Kong, it took only 17 days before outbreaks of the virus were reported in Singapore and Vietnam, and within three months had spread to The Philippines, India, Australia, Europe, and the United States. While the 1968 pandemic had a comparatively low mortality rate (.5%) it still resulted in the deaths of more than a million people, including 500,000 residents of Hong Kong, approximately 15% of its population at the time.
ASIAN FLU (1956-1958)
Death Toll: 2 million
Cause: Influenza
Asian Flu was a pandemic outbreak of Influenza A of the H2N2 subtype, that originated in China in 1956 and lasted until 1958. In its two-year spree, Asian Flu traveled from the Chinese province of Guizhou to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Estimates for the death toll of the Asian Flu vary, but the World Health Organization places the final tally at approximately 2 million deaths, 69,800 of those in the US alone.
SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC (1918)
Death Toll: 40 - 50 million
Cause: Influenza
Between 1918 and 1920 a disturbingly deadly outbreak of influenza tore across the globe, infecting over a third of the world’s population and ending the lives of 20 – 50 million people. Of the 500 million people infected in the 1918 pandemic, the mortality rate was estimated at 10% to 20%.
YELLOW FEVER (late 1800s)
Death toll: Around 150,000
Cause: Mosquitoes
This affliction hit the USA in the late 19th century and killed thousands of people.
FLU PANDEMIC (1889-1890)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Influenza
Originally the “Asiatic Flu” or “Russian Flu” as it was called, this strain was thought to be an outbreak of the Influenza A virus subtype H2N2, though recent discoveries have instead found the cause to be the Influenza A virus subtype H3N8. The first cases were observed in May 1889 in three separate and distant locations, Bukhara in Central Asia (Turkestan), Athabasca in northwestern Canada, and Greenland. Rapid population growth of the 19th century, specifically in urban areas, only helped the flu spread, and before long the outbreak had spread across the globe. Though it was the first true epidemic in the era of bacteriology and much was learned from it. In the end, the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic claimed the lives of over a million individuals.
PLAGUE (1885)
Death Toll: 12 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
More than 12 million people died in China and India from the bubonic plague.
CHOLERA PANDEMICs (1817-1923)
Death Toll: 40 million +
Cause: Cholera
From.the early 19th to the early 20th century, the world was afflicted with 6 cholera pandemics.
Most of these Pandemics originated in India before spreading to the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia. By 1923 Cholera cases had been cut down dramatically, although it was still a constant in India.
17th CENTURY PLAGUE
Death Toll: > 1 million
Cause: Bubonic plague
Countries like Italy and England were beset with the bubonic plague in the mid seventeenth century, leading to more than a million deaths.
NEW WORLD SMALLPOX (1520 onwards):
Cause: Smallpox
Death Toll: 56 million
The native inhabitants of the Americas were afflicted by smallpox in the 16th century. Diseases brought over by Europeans killed the original native Americans in droves.
THE BLACK DEATH (1346-1353)
Death Toll: 200 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
From 1346 to 1353 an outbreak of the plague ravaged Europe, Africa, and Asia, with an estimated death toll between 75 and 200 million people. Thought to have originated in Asia, the plague most likely jumped continents via the fleas living on the rats that so frequently lived aboard merchant ships. Ports being major urban centers at the time, were the perfect breeding ground for the rats and fleas, and thus the insidious bacterium flourished, devastating three continents in its wake.
JAPANESE SMALLPOX (735-737)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Smallpox
About a third of the entire Japanese population was wiped out by this outbreak of smallpox.
PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN (541-542)
Death Toll: 25 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
Thought to have killed perhaps half the population of Europe, the Plague of Justinian was an outbreak of the bubonic plague that afflicted the Byzantine Empire and Mediterranean port cities, killing up to 25 million people in its year long reign of terror. Generally regarded as the first recorded incident of the Bubonic Plague, the Plague of Justinian left its mark on the world, killing up to a quarter of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean and devastating the city of Constantinople, where at its height it was killing an estimated 5,000 people per day and eventually resulting in the deaths of 40% of the city’s population.
ANTONINE PLAGUE (165 AD)
Death Toll: 5 million
Cause: Smallpox or measles
Also known as the Plague of Galen, the Antonine Plague was an ancient pandemic that affected Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy and is thought to have been either Smallpox or Measles, though the true cause is still unknown. This unknown disease was brought back to Rome by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia around 165AD; unknowingly, they had spread a disease which would end up killing over 5 million people and decimating the Roman army.
In addition to all this, since 1860 alone, 120 million people have died due to famine all over the world.
Wars, of course, have caused horrendous fatalities throughout history as well. Only those which resulted in 5 million + deaths are listed below:
Second world war - 80 million
Taiping rebellion - 45 million
First world war - 40 million
Genghis Khan wars - 40 million - (10% of the world population)
Three Kingdoms war (China) - 37 million
Spanish conquest of Central and South America - 35 million
Wars between Ming and Qing dynasties - 25 million
An Lushan rebellion - 21.5 million
Second Sino-Japanese war - 22 million
Cultural revolution in China - 20 million
Timur Lane conquests - 12.5 million
Russian revolution - 12 million
Dungan revolt - 10 million
Reconquista (Iberian peninsula) - 7 million
European conquest of North America - 6.5 million
Thirty years war in Europe - 6 million
Mughal-Maratha wars in India - 5.5 million
Napoleonic wars - 5 million
Moorish wars - 5 million
Hopefully COVID-19 will not be anything like these colossal disasters.
Cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and influenza are some of the most brutal killers in human history. And outbreaks of these diseases across international borders, are properly defined as pandemic, especially smallpox and plague, which throughout history, have killed around 500 million people.
The following are the most series diseases that have afflicted the world during human history:
COVID-19 has resulted in 13054 deaths as of 23rd March 2020. [The toll is over 27000 as of 28th March 2020. In just five days, the number of deaths have more than doubled.]
MERS (2015 - Present) has caused 850 deaths. EBOLA (2014-16) led to 11000 mortalities. SWINE FLU (2009-10) caused about 200,000 deaths. SARS (2002-03) resulted in 770 deaths.
HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (2005-2012)
Death Toll: 36 million
Cause: HIV/AIDS
First identified in Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, HIV/AIDS has truly proven itself as a global pandemic, killing more than 36 million people since 1981. Currently there are between 31 and 35 million people living with HIV, the vast majority of those are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 5% of the population is infected, roughly 21 million people. As awareness has grown, new treatments have been developed that make HIV far more manageable, and many of those infected go on to lead productive lives.
FLU PANDEMIC (1968)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Influenza
A category 2 Flu pandemic sometimes referred to as “the Hong Kong Flu,” the 1968 flu pandemic was caused by the H3N2 strain of the Influenza A virus, a genetic offshoot of the H2N2 subtype. From the first reported case on July 13, 1968 in Hong Kong, it took only 17 days before outbreaks of the virus were reported in Singapore and Vietnam, and within three months had spread to The Philippines, India, Australia, Europe, and the United States. While the 1968 pandemic had a comparatively low mortality rate (.5%) it still resulted in the deaths of more than a million people, including 500,000 residents of Hong Kong, approximately 15% of its population at the time.
ASIAN FLU (1956-1958)
Death Toll: 2 million
Cause: Influenza
Asian Flu was a pandemic outbreak of Influenza A of the H2N2 subtype, that originated in China in 1956 and lasted until 1958. In its two-year spree, Asian Flu traveled from the Chinese province of Guizhou to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Estimates for the death toll of the Asian Flu vary, but the World Health Organization places the final tally at approximately 2 million deaths, 69,800 of those in the US alone.
SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC (1918)
Death Toll: 40 - 50 million
Cause: Influenza
Between 1918 and 1920 a disturbingly deadly outbreak of influenza tore across the globe, infecting over a third of the world’s population and ending the lives of 20 – 50 million people. Of the 500 million people infected in the 1918 pandemic, the mortality rate was estimated at 10% to 20%.
YELLOW FEVER (late 1800s)
Death toll: Around 150,000
Cause: Mosquitoes
This affliction hit the USA in the late 19th century and killed thousands of people.
FLU PANDEMIC (1889-1890)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Influenza
Originally the “Asiatic Flu” or “Russian Flu” as it was called, this strain was thought to be an outbreak of the Influenza A virus subtype H2N2, though recent discoveries have instead found the cause to be the Influenza A virus subtype H3N8. The first cases were observed in May 1889 in three separate and distant locations, Bukhara in Central Asia (Turkestan), Athabasca in northwestern Canada, and Greenland. Rapid population growth of the 19th century, specifically in urban areas, only helped the flu spread, and before long the outbreak had spread across the globe. Though it was the first true epidemic in the era of bacteriology and much was learned from it. In the end, the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic claimed the lives of over a million individuals.
PLAGUE (1885)
Death Toll: 12 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
More than 12 million people died in China and India from the bubonic plague.
CHOLERA PANDEMICs (1817-1923)
Death Toll: 40 million +
Cause: Cholera
From.the early 19th to the early 20th century, the world was afflicted with 6 cholera pandemics.
Most of these Pandemics originated in India before spreading to the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia. By 1923 Cholera cases had been cut down dramatically, although it was still a constant in India.
17th CENTURY PLAGUE
Death Toll: > 1 million
Cause: Bubonic plague
Countries like Italy and England were beset with the bubonic plague in the mid seventeenth century, leading to more than a million deaths.
NEW WORLD SMALLPOX (1520 onwards):
Cause: Smallpox
Death Toll: 56 million
The native inhabitants of the Americas were afflicted by smallpox in the 16th century. Diseases brought over by Europeans killed the original native Americans in droves.
THE BLACK DEATH (1346-1353)
Death Toll: 200 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
From 1346 to 1353 an outbreak of the plague ravaged Europe, Africa, and Asia, with an estimated death toll between 75 and 200 million people. Thought to have originated in Asia, the plague most likely jumped continents via the fleas living on the rats that so frequently lived aboard merchant ships. Ports being major urban centers at the time, were the perfect breeding ground for the rats and fleas, and thus the insidious bacterium flourished, devastating three continents in its wake.
JAPANESE SMALLPOX (735-737)
Death Toll: 1 million
Cause: Smallpox
About a third of the entire Japanese population was wiped out by this outbreak of smallpox.
PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN (541-542)
Death Toll: 25 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
Thought to have killed perhaps half the population of Europe, the Plague of Justinian was an outbreak of the bubonic plague that afflicted the Byzantine Empire and Mediterranean port cities, killing up to 25 million people in its year long reign of terror. Generally regarded as the first recorded incident of the Bubonic Plague, the Plague of Justinian left its mark on the world, killing up to a quarter of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean and devastating the city of Constantinople, where at its height it was killing an estimated 5,000 people per day and eventually resulting in the deaths of 40% of the city’s population.
ANTONINE PLAGUE (165 AD)
Death Toll: 5 million
Cause: Smallpox or measles
Also known as the Plague of Galen, the Antonine Plague was an ancient pandemic that affected Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy and is thought to have been either Smallpox or Measles, though the true cause is still unknown. This unknown disease was brought back to Rome by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia around 165AD; unknowingly, they had spread a disease which would end up killing over 5 million people and decimating the Roman army.
In addition to all this, since 1860 alone, 120 million people have died due to famine all over the world.
Among natural catastrophes, the most serious were the floods in China in 1931, which killed 4 million people.
Second world war - 80 million
Taiping rebellion - 45 million
First world war - 40 million
Genghis Khan wars - 40 million - (10% of the world population)
Three Kingdoms war (China) - 37 million
Spanish conquest of Central and South America - 35 million
Wars between Ming and Qing dynasties - 25 million
An Lushan rebellion - 21.5 million
Second Sino-Japanese war - 22 million
Cultural revolution in China - 20 million
Timur Lane conquests - 12.5 million
Russian revolution - 12 million
Dungan revolt - 10 million
Reconquista (Iberian peninsula) - 7 million
European conquest of North America - 6.5 million
Thirty years war in Europe - 6 million
Mughal-Maratha wars in India - 5.5 million
Napoleonic wars - 5 million
Moorish wars - 5 million
Hopefully COVID-19 will not be anything like these colossal disasters.
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