History of Pandemics
As humans have spread across the world, so have infectious diseases. Even in this modern era, outbreaks are nearly constant, though not every outbreak reaches pandemic level as COVID-19 has.
Today’s visualization outlines some of history’s most deadly pandemics, from the Antonine Plague to the current COVID-19 event. See below all the pandemics until today.
Today’s visualization outlines some of history’s most deadly pandemics, from the Antonine Plague to the current COVID-19 event. See below all the pandemics until today.
| Name | Time period | Death toll | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antonine Plague | 165-180 | 5M | |
| Japanese smallpox epidemic | 735-737 | 1M | |
| Plague of Justinian | 541-542 | 30-50M | |
| Black Death | 1347-1351 | 200M | |
| New World Smallpox Outbreak | 1520 – onwards | 56M | |
| Great Plague of London | 1665 | 100,000 | |
| Italian plague | 1629-1631 | 1M | |
| Cholera Pandemics 1-6 | 1817-1923 | 1M+ | |
| Third Plague | 1885 | 12M (China and India) | |
| Yellow Fever | Late 1800s | 100,000-150,000 (U.S.) | |
| Russian Flu | 1889-1890 | 1M | |
| Spanish Flu | 1918-1919 | 40-50M | |
| Asian Flu | 1957-1958 | 1.1M | |
| Hong Kong Flu | 1968-1970 | 1M | |
| HIV/AIDS | 1981-present | 25-35M | |
| Swine Flu | 2009-2010 | 200,000 | |
| SARS | 2002-2003 | 770 | |
| Ebola | 2014-2016 | 11,000 | |
| MERS | 2015-Present | 850 | |
| COVID-19 | 2019-Present | 6.5M (Johns Hopkins University estimate as of September 13, 2022) |
