History of Pandemics
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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) |