Worst Epidemics in History

An epidemic is a situation in which a great number of people are affected by one illness or viral strain in a particular location. There are no specific qualifications that designate an epidemic, though it is generally agreed to be the prevalence of a sickness in higher numbers that would be expected in a given location. Pandemic is usually used to describe an epidemic of a much wider scale.

The Plague

• During the Middle Ages, the bubonic plague killed about 34 million people, or one third of the European population, plus hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East and East. The plague is believed to have been transferred by infected fleas that traveled from rats to humans. Individuals suffering from the plague developed large lesions and/or tumors, infections and respiratory failure. People typically died within a matter of days after contracting the illness. Doctors could not cure the plague or even adequately relieve its symptoms. Death was caused by the infection spreading into the blood stream, causing septicemia (essentially, blood poisoning).

Malaria

• Malaria is one of the oldest diseases to afflict humankind. Anthropologists suggest that malaria parasites have been in existence for 150 million to 200 million years. Malaria originated in West and Central Africa, and mentions of the illness are found in Egyptian and Chinese documents from 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. As people traveled and expanded the world, they brought malaria with them. By the 19th century, one out of ten people were suffering from malaria to some degree. It was not discovered until the 1890 that malaria was passed to humans from a parasite. Malaria continues to be a serious epidemic in parts of the world with less adequate health care. The United States effectively eradicated malaria in the mid 1950s, but there are still some 300 million to 400 million cases reported a year worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa reports the most cases, but the disease continues to be prevalent in India, Sri Lanka and other highly populated countries.

Influenza

• Spanish Influenza is considered a pandemic and perhaps the worst outbreak of an illness in human history. It lasted for the single year of 1918-1919 but managed to kill between 20 million and 40 million people (more than the bubonic plague). The industrial nations were already suffering under the circumstances of World War I when the Spanish Flu hit, and resources were limited. In addition, the constant international travel of the armies was responsible for the global dispersion of the strain. Like the plague, people died within a few days or even hours of contracting influenza. Woodrow Wilson was suffering from the flu at the end of the war. Group meetings were discouraged, and funerals were legally regulated to 15-minute timeslots.

Cholera

• Like any serious epidemic, those infected with cholera could die within hours of exposure. The first major cholera epidemic occurred in 1832 in England and the United States. Cholera produced flu-like symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea, which resulted in death from dehydration. Outbreaks subsequently occurred in 1849 and 1866, at which point doctors finally determined the cause of cholera and imposed strict public health measures to limit the spread of the illness from contaminated food and water. The New York City Board of Health established food standards, and experiments were conducted on water filtration methods.

AIDS

• The origin of the HIV virus that causes AIDS is still somewhat an object of contention, but it is generally agreed to have evolved from a similar strain found in monkeys, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). There are many theories as to how the illness was first contracted by humans. Doctors agree it most likely originated in Africa. HIV became an epidemic in the early 1980s when it was contracted and transmitted among the gay male population in New York and California. It was consequently declared a "gay disease" until facts came to light in the mid-1980s concerning risk factors like intravenous drug use and blood transfusion.