Name
Year
Deaths (In millions)
Cause
Place & Impact
Description
World Population (In millions)
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