With swine flu now declared the first global pandemic in over 40 years, we take a look at the other epidemics and pandemics that have wreaked havoc around the world throughout history.
Spanish Flu
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918/19 killed an estimated 100 million people worldwide during its reign. First identified in March 1918 in American soldiers, by October 1918 it had become a worldwide pandemic, affecting one third of the world’s population.
Spanish flu disappeared as quickly as it arrive, vanishing completely within 18 months after killing 17 million in India, 675,000 in the US and 200,000 in Britain.
Black Death
Black death, thought to have been caused by fleas carried by rats, began in the 1300’s in Asia before spreading to Europe in 1348 and killing an estimated 20 to 30 million people.
The first cycle of European plague epidemics, black death returned in 1665 and killed 100,000 people in London’s famous Great Plague. Medical experts believe that Black Death is currently lying dormant.
SARS
In 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (otherwise known as SARS) was dangerously close to being declared a pandemic. A new and highly contagious form of atypical pneumonia, SARS developed in China and spread to 37 countries worldwide in a matter of weeks.
It killed 774 people before it was contained in mid-2003. However, experts claim SARS could return as it is likely to still be present in the animal population.
Bird flu
The last epidemic to frighten the life out of the world was bird flu, which up to and including 2007 killed 59 people worldwide.
The H5N1 virus was detected in birds in Vietnam during 2004 and by 2005 had spread to Turkey, Russia, Greece and the UK. Avian Flu cannot be described as a pandemic because until now, it has only been spread from bird to human.
Asian Flu
Between 1957 and 1958, Asian Flu caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late 1957, the H2N2 virus had spread to American soil by June 1957. It went on to cause two million deaths worldwide.
Hong Kong Flu
10 years later in 1968, Hong Kong Flu, a strain of the H3N2 influenza virus, was detected in Hong Kong. It spread to the US later that year and between 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide. The H3N2 influenza A virus still circulates today.
Third Pandemic
Discovered in China in the middle of the 19th century, the Third Pandemic was a bubonic plague carried by rats that killed more than 12 million people in India and China alone.
The disease spread to the US in 1900 and, by the early 1900’s had moved on to Australia, Russia and South America.
Asiatic Flu
Asiatic Flu was first reported in 1889 in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, and rapidly spread to North America by the end of the year.
Come March 1890 the H2N8 virus had reached South America, India and Australia, killing around one million people with its high attack rate.
HIV and AIDS
Although it wasn’t identified until the early 1980s, HIV is thought to have transferred from monkeys to humans in the early 20th century. The disease is said to have originated in West Central Africa, where it is thought to have jumped from wild chimpanzees.
HIV moved from Africa to Haiti before spreading via the US and becoming virulent in the 1980s. It is currently a pandemic and it is estimated the disease could kill well over 100 million people by 2025.
Surat plague
In 1994, a plague epidemic in Surat, India threatened to spread around the world after infecting around 300,000 people and killing 52.
A combination of heavy monsoon rain and clogged sewers leading to massive flooding is thought to have caused the outbreak, resulting in unhygienic conditions and a number of uncleared animal carcasses.
The final Curious © phrase:
“Doctors and undertakers fear epidemics of good health”
(Gerald Barzan)
