List of epidemics
This article is a list of major pandemics and epidemics caused by infectious diseases in human history. Events in boldface are ongoing.
| Rank | Epidemics/pandemics | Date | Location | Death toll |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Death | 1346–1353 | Europe, Asia and North Africa | 75–200 million |
| 2 | Spanish flu | 1918–1920 | Worldwide | 17–100 million |
| 3 | Plague of Justinian | 541–542 | Europe and West Asia | 15–100 million |
| 4 | HIV/AIDS pandemic | 1981–present | Worldwide | 35 million+ (2020) |
| 5 | Third plague pandemic | 1855–1960 | Worldwide | 12–15 million |
| 6 | Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–1548 | 1545–1548 | Mexico | 5–15 million |
| 7 | Antonine Plague | 165–180 | Roman Empire | 5–10 million |
| 8 | 1520 Mexico smallpox epidemic | 1519–1520 | Mexico | 5–8 million |
| 9 | COVID-19 pandemic | 2019–present | Worldwide | 4 million+ (July 2021) |
| 10 | Asian flu | 1957–1958 | Worldwide | 1–4 million |
| Hong Kong flu | 1968–1969 | Worldwide | ||
| 11 | 1918–1922 Russia typhus epidemic | 1918–1922 | Russia | 2–3 million |
| 14 | 735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic | 735–737 | Japan | 2 million |
| 1772–1773 Persian Plague | 1772–1773 | Persia | 2 million | |
| 16 | Naples Plague | 1656–1658 | Italy | 1.25 million |
| 17 | Third cholera pandemic | 1846–1860 | Worldwide | 1 million+ |
| 18 | 1629–1631 Italian plague | 1629–1631 | Italy | 1 million |
| 1889–1890 flu pandemic | 1889–1890 | Worldwide | 1 million |
Worldwide Pandemics
- 1194-1184 BCE: influenza: Trojan War epidemic[1]
- 713 BCE: influenza: Assyrian epidemic[1]
- 430-425 BCE: influenza (?): Plague of Athens[1]
- 165-180: Antonine Plague, perhaps smallpox
- 541: the Plague of Justinian[2]
- 591-592: influenza: Extreme Cough[1]
- 1300-50s: The Black Death in Europe and Asia during the Late Middle Age (Killed 60% of the population) [3]
- 1501-1587: typhus[4]
- 1729: influenza[5]
- 1732-1733: influenza[5]
- 1775-1776: influenza[1]
- 1781: influenza[5]
- 1816-1826: cholera[6]
- 1829-1851: cholera[6]
- 1830: influenza[5]
- 1847-1848: influenza
- 1852-1860: cholera[6]
- 1855-1950s: bubonic plague: Third Pandemic in China and India
- 1857-1859: influenza
- 1870-1874: smallpox[7]
- 1863-1875: cholera[6]
- 1881-1893: cholera[6]
- 1889-1892: influenza[5]
- 1899-1923: cholera[6]
- 1918-1920: avian flu: Spanish flu: more people were hospitalized in World War I from this epidemic than wounds. Estimates of the dead range from 20 to 40 million worldwide (WHO)[8]
- 1957-1958: influenza: avian flu: Asian flu[5]
- 1961-present: cholera called El Tor[6]
- 1981-present: HIV/AIDS (As of 2018, more than 32 million have died from AIDS) [9]
- 1968-1969: influenza: avian flu: Hong Kong flu[5]
- 2002-2003: SARS[10]
- 2009-2010: 2009 flu pandemic (swine flu) [11]
- 2019 to present: COVID-19 pandemic (Ongoing pandemic)[12][13]
Regional
Asia
Central and South America
- 1493: influenza - Hispaniola
- 1518: smallpox - Hispaniola
- 1520: smallpox - Mexico
- 1527-1530: smallpox - Peru
- 1530-1531: measles - Mexico, Peru
- 1546: typhus - Mexico, Peru
- 1558-1559: influenza - Mexico, Peru
- early 1600s: malaria
- 1648: yellow fever
Europe
- 415 BCE: Athenian army in Sicily[1]
- 393 BCE: Carthaginian siege of Syracuse[1]
- 1347-1351: Black Death
- 1582-1583: plague - San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain)
- 1613: diphtheria[14] - "El año de los Garotillos[15]"
- 1782: influenza: Russian Katarrh[1]
Egypt & North Africa
- 212 BCE: Second Punic War epidemic[1]
- 1801: plague
- 1831: cholera
- 1834-1836: plague
- 1848, 1865, 1881: cholera
- 1902: cholera
- 1942-1944: falciparum malaria
- 1946: relapsing fever
- 1947: cholera
North America
- 1657: measles - Boston, Massachusetts[16]
- 1687: measles - Boston, Massachusetts[17]
- 1690: yellow fever - New York, New York[17]
- 1713: measles - Boston, Massachusetts[18]
- 1721-1722: smallpox - Boston, Massachusetts
- 1729: measles - Boston, Massachusetts[17]
- 1738: smallpox - South Carolina[17]
- 1739-1740: measles - Boston, Massachusetts[17]
- 1747: measles - Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina[17]
- 1759: measles - North America[17]
- 1761: influenza - North America and West Indies[17]
- 1772: measles - North America[17]
- 1775: unknown cause - North America, particularly in the northeast
- 1783: Bilious fever - Dover, Delaware
- 1788: measles - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York[17]
- 1793: influenza and "putrid fever" - Vermont
- 1793: influenza - Virginia
- 1793: yellow fever - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1793: unknown - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- 1793: unknown - Middletown, Pennsylvania
- 1794: yellow fever - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1796-1797: yellow fever - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1798: yellow fever - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1803: yellow fever - New York
- 1820-1823: fever - United States spreading from the Schuylkill River
- 1831-1832: Asiatic cholera - United States (brought by English immigrants)
- 1832: cholera - New York City and other major cities
- 1833: cholera - Columbus, Ohio
- 1834: cholera - New York City
- 1837: typhus - Philadelphia
- 1841: yellow fever - United States (especially severe in the South)
- 1847: yellow fever New Orleans
- 1848-1849: cholera - North America
- 1849: cholera New York[19]
- 1850: yellow fever - United States
- 1850-1851: influenza - North America
- 1851: cholera Coles County, Illinois, The Great Plains, and Missouri
- 1852: yellow fever - United States (New Orleans-8,000 die in summer)
- 1855: yellow fever - United States[20]
- 1860-1861: smallpox - Pennsylvania
- 1865-1873: smallpox - Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, New Orleans
- 1865-1873: cholera - Baltimore, Maryland, Memphis, Washington, DC
- 1865-1873: recurring epidemics of typhus, typhoid, scarlet fever, and yellow fever
- 1873-1875: influenza - North America and Europe
- 1876: smallpox - Deadwood, South Dakota
- 1878: yellow fever - Memphis, New Orleans[21]
- 1885: typhoid - Plymouth, Pennsylvania[22]
- 1886: yellow fever - Jacksonville, Florida[17]
- 1918-1920: Spanish flu - Fort Riley, Kansas
References
- Kuhnke, Laverne. Lives at Risk: Public Health in Nineteenth-Century Egypt. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1990.
- Gallagher, Nancy. Egypt's Other Wars: Epidemics and the Politics of Public Health. Syracuse University Press, c1990. Published by the American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 977-424-295-5
- Kinch, Michael. Between Hope and Fear: A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity. New York: Pegasus Books, 2018. ISBN 9781681777511
- Rosen, William, Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe, New York: Penguin Random House, 2008 ISBN 9780143113812
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Morens, David M.. Pandemic influenza: certain uncertainties. Reviews in medical virology 21 (5) (2011-9). p. 262–284. doi:10.1002/rmv.689.
- ↑ Justinian's Flea -. www.justiniansflea.com. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Three Books on the Black Death | The Heritage Portal. www.theheritageportal.co.za. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Raoult, Didier. The history of epidemic typhus (in en). Historical Aspects of Infectious Diseases, Part I. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 18 (1) (2004-03-01). p. 127–140. doi:10.1016/S0891-5520(03)00093-X.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 S, Peter M.. A severe pandemic is not overdue - it's not when but if (in en). CIDRAP. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Cholera - Cholera through history (in en). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ↑ Rolleston, J. D.. The Smallpox Pandemic of 1870–1874: President's Address (in en). Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 27 (2) (1933-12). p. 177–192. doi:10.1177/003591573302700245.
- ↑ The Great Influenza (in en). Wikipedia (2020-06-27).
- ↑ June 05, Content Source: HIV govDate last updated:. What Are HIV and AIDS? (in en). HIV.gov (2020-06-05). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ↑ Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) (in en). www.who.int. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ CDC. 2009 H1N1 Pandemic (in en-us). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019-06-11). Retrieved 2021-02-06.
- ↑ Home (in en). Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
- ↑ Coronavirus Update (Live): 106,308,198 Cases and 2,318,294 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer (in en). www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
- ↑ what's the story?. Diphtheria. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Between Hope and Fear. pegasusbooks.com. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Timeline | History of Vaccines (in en). www.historyofvaccines.org. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 Disease & Death in Early America: Tully Area Historical Society. www.tullyhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ↑ Morens, David M.. The Past Is Never Dead—Measles Epidemic, Boston, Massachusetts, 1713. Emerging Infectious Diseases 21 (7) (2015-7). p. 1257–1260. doi:10.3201/eid2107.150397.
- ↑ NYCdata: Cholera Outbreak (1849). www.baruch.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Watson, Denise. The Yellow Fever outbreak wiped out 3,000 in Hampton Roads. On Wednesday, they'll be remembered.. pilotonline.com. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ↑ Editors, History com. First victim of Memphis yellow fever epidemic dies (in en). HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ↑ THE TYPHOID EPIDEMIC AT BUTLER, PA. (in en). Journal of the American Medical Association XLI (25) (1903-12-19). p. 1542–1542. doi:10.1001/jama.1903.02490440032004.