While we are still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the disease has been raging since the dawn of time, but fortunately medicine has evolved considerably in order to provide us with treatments and vaccines, allowing us to escape most of these afflictions. However, judging by history, some epidemics which spiral out of control do spread and their consequences are then devastating.
In this gallery, we come back to the worst epidemics experienced by our ancestors, real miracles!
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430 BC. J.-C: Plague of Athens
The first largest epidemic on record occurred during the Peloponnesian War. Two-thirds of the population Greek died of it.
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430 BC. J.-C: Plague of Athens
Despite the many hypotheses, the disease that spread to Athens remains unknown to this day.
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165: Over the antonines
Also known as the Plague of Galenis, this outbreak of smallpox or measles is believed to have originally affected the Huns. The plague eventually spread throughout the Roman Empire.
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165: Over the antonines
The epidemic lasted until the year 180 of our era. Although the death of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is attributed to natural causes, some historians suggest that he succumbed to this disease.
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250: Plague of Cyprian
This plague takes its name from Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. It is believed to have started in Ethiopia and spread northward, hitting Egypt and then Rome.
Cyprian’s plague finally reached Britain in 444. This led the weakened Britons to beg help from the Saxons to fight the Scots and the Picts.
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541: Plague of Justinian
Considered the first case of bubonic plague, the disease originated in Egypt and then spread throughout the Byzantine Empire, as well as the Mediterranean.
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541: Plague of Justinian
In two centuries, this plague killed regarding 50 million people, or at the time regarding 26% of the world’s population!
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11th century: Leprosy
The epidemic spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. At the time, the disease was believed to be a punishment from God and the victims were cursed.
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11th century: Leprosy
Also known as Hansen’s disease, leprosy still affects large numbers of people around the world. Today, treated at an early stage, individuals contracting this bacterial disease are curable.
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1350: Black Death
Responsible for the annihilation of a third of the world’s population, this bubonic plague pandemic was particularly devastating.
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1350: Black Death
The disease has never been completely eradicated and new cases have been recorded in recent years.
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1492: Columbian Exchange
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, the Taíno (indigenous people of the Caribbean) numbered regarding 60,000 individuals. In 1548, they were less than 500.
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1492: Columbian Exchange
Diseases such as measles and bubonic plague decimated around 90% of the local population. The Aztec Empire, for example, was wiped out by a smallpox epidemic.
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1665: Great Plague of London
The next wave of bubonic plague killed around 20% of London’s population.
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1665: Great Plague of London
As Londoners were just beginning to recover from the Great Plague, another devastating event struck the capital: the Great Fire of London in 1666.
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1817: First cholera pandemic
It was the first of seven pandemics over the past two centuries. It would have started in Russia and would have spread all over the world. About 150,000 people died from it.
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1852: Third cholera pandemic
Probably the most devastating cholera pandemic: from 1852 to 1860 it killed around a million people.
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1855: Over China
The third wave of bubonic plague started in China and spread to India and Hong Kong. The number of victims is estimated at 15 million.
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1855: Over China
Hard to admit, but the pandemic remained active until 1960.
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1875: Measles outbreak in Fiji
When Fiji was part of the British Empire, Fijian chef Ratu Cakobau visited Australia amid a measles outbreak in the country.
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1875: Measles outbreak in Fiji
When he returned, the disease spread and eventually killed around 40,000 people. This number was equivalent to one third of the population of Fiji at the time.
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1889: Russian Flu
The pandemic started in Siberia and Kazakhstan, then spread across Europe, North America and Africa.
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1889: Russian Flu
By 1890, 360,000 people had succumbed to the Russian flu.
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1918: Spanish flu
This strain of avian flu originated in China and was transmitted by workers traveling to Europe via Canada.
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1918: Spanish flu
The outbreak lasted regarding a year and alone caused regarding 50 million deaths worldwide. It owes its name to Spain, the only country to disseminate information regarding its spread.
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1957: Influenza pandemic
This flu started in Hong Kong and spread through China, the United States and then the United Kingdom.
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1957: Influenza pandemic
This pandemic has killed around 1.1 million people worldwide.
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1968: Hong Kong Flu
The first case of influenza was reported in July 1968 in Hong Kong, as the name suggests. Three months later, the virus reached Europe, the United States, India, Australia and the Philippines.
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1968: Hong Kong Flu
The pandemic has killed an estimated one million people worldwide, including 500,000 Hong Kong residents, or around 15% of its population.
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1981: VIH/Sida
Severely rampant in the US population in the early 1980s, the virus is believed to have originated in African chimpanzees.
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1981: VIH/Sida
More than 35 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. Despite advances in medicine, which allow patients to manage the disease, a cure has yet to be found.
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