Athenian Plague |
430-427 BC |
0.1 |
Typhoid fever or Typhus |
Athens &
Greece |
Ravaged the city-state and one-fourth of Athen’s population
died |
101.40 |
Antonine Plague |
165-180 |
5 |
Measles or smallpox |
Occurred at Roman
Empire |
Imported by troops |
148.50 |
Plague of Justinian |
541-542 |
30-50 |
Yersinia pestis bacteria |
Mediterranean region |
Spread by rats infected with fleas |
205.34 |
Japanese Smallpox Epidemic |
735-737 |
1 |
Variola major virus |
Killed
1/3 of Japan’s population |
Imported to Japan by a fisherman |
209.92 |
Black Death |
1347-1351 |
200 |
Yersinia pestis bacteria |
60% of
Europe’s population was lost |
Breathing played a role in the
transmission |
449.45 |
New World Smallpox |
1520-onward |
55 |
Variola major virus |
Brought to
New World inhabitants |
by European explorers |
576.23 |
Italian Plague |
1629-1631 |
1 |
Yersinia pestis bacteria |
25% of
Italy’s population was lost |
Brought by troops returning from war |
544.57 |
Great Plague of London |
1665-1666 |
0.1 |
Yersinia pestis bacteria |
It
killed 1/4 of London’s population |
Infected people died within two
weeks |
570.00 |
The Cholera Pandemics |
1817-1923 |
1 |
V. Cholera bacteria |
Transmitted via contaminated water |
Causes severe diarrhea and vomiting |
1019.92 |
Third Plague Pandemic |
1885 |
12 |
Yersinia pestis bacteria |
It began
in Yunnan, China |
It killed 2M in China, 10M in India |
1399.86 |
Russian Flu |
1889-1890 |
1 |
Influenza A virus subtype H2N2 |
It
started in Bukhara, Russian Empire |
Spread facilitated by modern
transport |
1599.94 |
Yellow Fever |
The late 1800s |
0.15 (U.S.) |
Spread by female
mosquitoes |
It swept through Philadelphia |
10% of the city’s
population was lost |
1647.20 |
Spanish Flu |
1918-1920 |
50 |
H1N1 influenza virus |
The earliest case
in Kansas, the US later in France, Germany, and the UK |
Originated in
pigs and infected 500 million people |
1852.40 |
Asian Flu |
1957-1958 |
2 |
H2N2 influenza virus |
It originated in
Guizhou, China |
The virus is attributed to birds |
2873.17 |
Hong Kong Flu |
1968-1970 |
1 |
H3N2 influenza virus |
It originated in
Hong Kong, China |
The virus mutated from H2N2 |
3551.53 |
HIV/AIDS |
1981-present |
35 |
a retrovirus called HIV |
HIV originated
in West-central Africa |
Jumps from chimps to humans |
4535.09 |
SARS |
2002-2003 |
0.0008 |
Coronavirus SARS-COV-1 |
It started in
Guangdong, China |
Virus jumped from bats to humans |
6301.77 |
Swine Flu |
2009-2010 |
0.2 |
H1N1 influenza virus |
It was first
detected in the US |
Mostly killed younger people |
6872.74 |
Ebola |
2014-2016 |
0.011 |
Ebola virus |
It started in West Africa |
Transmitted from wild animals |
7295.29 |
MERS |
2015-Present |
0.0009 |
Coronavirus MERS-CoV |
Originated in
Saudi Arabia |
Transmitted to humans from camels |
7379.80 |
COVID-19 |
2019-Present |
6.8 |
Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 |
It started in
Wuhan, China |
Jumped from bats/pangolins |
7794.78 |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |
Source: World Economic
Forum and Author’s Compilation |