Deadly diseases the world faced before Covid-19
The COVID-19 is affecting 199 countries with 532,255 confirmed cases and 24,089 deaths recorded. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared coronavirus outbreak as “pandemic“ due to its severity and the widespread of the disease.
Before COVID-19, the world had faced many epidemics and pandemics across the centuries, claiming millions of human lives. Let’s take a look at some of the deadliest diseases.
Antonine plague (AD 165):
Also known as the Plague of Galen, the Antonine plague was an ancient pandemic that affected Asia, Egypt, Greece, and Italy and killing five million people. It was suspected to have been either smallpox or measles though the true cause is still unknown. It was brought back by troops returning to Rome from the Far East. Unknowingly, they had spread it throughout the Roman empire. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, diarrhea, swollen throat, and coughing. This plague continued until about 180 A.D.
Sixth cholera (1910-1911):
The sixth cholera outbreak began in India, before spreading to the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia. The outbreak killed 8,00,000 people. The Sixth Cholera Pandemic was also the source of the last American outbreak of Cholera (1910–1911). American health authorities, having learned from the past, quickly sought to isolate the infected, and in the end, only 11 deaths occurred in the U.S. By 1923 Cholera cases had been cut down dramatically, although it was still a constant in India.
Asian flu (1957):
The Asian flu was an avian influenza outbreak that spread in the late 1950s and later died out after a vaccine was introduced. Starting in Hong Kong and spreading throughout China and then into the United States that killed two million people. A vaccine was developed, effectively containing the pandemic.
The Black Death (1346-1353):
The deadliest outbreak in recorded history, the Black Death killed over 200 million people, reshaping demographics across the world. The outbreak of the bubonic plague originated in Asia and traveled across the world on ships that housed black rats. Dead bodies became so prevalent that many remained rotting on the ground and created a constant stench in cities.
HIV/AIDS (2005-2012):
AIDS is an auto-immune disease, caused by the Human Immuno Virus (HIV), that was first identified in the Republic of Congo in 1976 but did not become a pandemic until it peaked between 2005 and 2012 largely affecting the African continent. The sexually transmitted virus has killed over 35 million people in the decades of its existence. Symptoms include fever, headache, and enlarged lymph nodes upon infection.
SARS(2003):
First identified in 2003 after several months of cases, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is believed to have possibly started with bats, spread to cats and then to humans in China, followed by 26 other countries, infecting 8,096 people, with 774 deaths. Symptoms include respiratory problems, dry cough, fever and head, and body aches and is spread through respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes. Quarantine efforts were proven to be effective and the virus was contained hasn’t reappeared since. SARS was seen by global health professionals as a wake-up call to improve outbreak responses, and lessons from the pandemic were used to keep diseases like H1N1, Ebola, and Zika under control.
To know more about Corona, then subscribe to Dhobi G blogsÂand visit us on Facebook at (https://www.facebook.com/DhobiGOnline/).