Top 10 Deadliest Epidemics In World History
The top 10 deadliest epidemics in world history are both horrifying and fascinating. To think that illnesses could spread and quickly wipe out large segments of the population is a chilling thought. Here are the deadliest epidemics in history to show you just how bad epidemics can be.
Antonine Plague
This plague is still unidentified although scholars believe that it was either smallpox or measles. It is believed that this disease, whatever it was, killed around 5 million people. It makes you realize just how serious these now mostly innocuous conditions are.
Plague Of Cyprian
This plague is thought to be an occurrence of smallpox that occurred during the time of the Roman Empire. At its worst it was estimated to have killed 5,000 people a day.
Plague Of Justinian
This plague affected Constantinople and really the whole Byzantine Empire. When all was done it is estimated that this plague may have ended the lives of as many as 100 million people. This plague was thought to have been the Bubonic plague.
Black Death
This was another instance of the Bubonic plague, assuming the first was correctly identified. The spread began in Central Asia and made it to Crimea in 1346. Precise numbers are not known but experts postulate that anywhere from 30% to 60% of the entire population of Europe was killed in this outbreak. The death toll is estimated to have been between 75 million and 100 million.
Italian Plague
This plague lasted from 1629 to 1631 and was again the Bubonic plague. This time, however, it struck northern Italy. This plague has also been refereed to as the Great Plague of Milan. This plague killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 280,000 people.
Great Plague Of Seville
The Great Plague of Seville afflicted Spain during the 17th century. The city of Seville was hit hard and lost 150,000 people while the total death toll in Spain was closer to 500,000.
Great Plague Of London
The Great Plague of London is another time when the Bubonic plague reared its ugly head. It has been estimated that 100,000 people were killed in this occurrence which was about 20% of the population of London at the time.
Great Plague Of Marseilles
This plague was the Bubonic plague once more and killed another 100,000 people in Marseilles and the surrounding areas in 1720.
Smallpox Epidemic
This smallpox epidemic happened from 1775 and 1782 and swept across North America. It killed 130,000 people.
Third Pandemic
This massive out break of the Bubonic plague in 1855 that started in the Yunnan Province of China and just kept spreading. In fact, it spread around the world and ended the lives of over 12 million individuals in just India and China. It wasn’t even considered inactive until 1959 when less than 200 people died each year from it.
These are the top 10 deadliest epidemics in history. It is almost inconceivable that any illness could sweep across a country, a continent, or the world and wipe out massive numbers of people but these events happened. The real concern is that they could happen again.
T.R. Heinecker blogs about finding the best MA in Global Health program to fit your educational and career goals.