The 7 worst epidemics in history that have caused the death of millions of people

The Corona virus, which has been spreading rapidly since its emergence in Wuhan, China, continues to cause death. While the fight against the virus continues worldwide, the most deadly outbreaks of history come to mind.

Cholera, plague, smallpox, and flu are known as some of the wildest killers in human history. Mankind's determination to hold on to life, of course, knew how to win the epidemic. Despite the huge losses worldwide, humanity has always managed to overcome the worst outbreaks and continue its kind. Thanks to scientific developments and the spread of vaccination, many epidemics in history are now completely defeated. Thanks to the right interventions and precautions, let's remember the Corona virus with the least damage, let's remember the deadliest outbreaks that have been experienced worldwide in history.

The most deadly outbreaks in history

HIV / AIDS epidemic

HIV, which first appeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, has proved a global epidemic, killing more than 36 million people since 1981. As awareness rises, new treatments have been developed that make HIV more manageable, and nowadays most of the infected people can survive . Let's add that between 2005 and 2012, annual global deaths from HIV / AIDS fell from 2.2 million to 1.6 million.

Flu pandemic

After the first case reported on July 13, 1968 in Hong Kong, it took only 17 days to report virus outbreaks in Singapore and Vietnam, and spread to the Philippines, India, Australia, Europe and America within three months. The 1968 outbreak resulted in the death of more than 1 million people, including 500,000 Hong Kong residents at the time .

Justinian outbreak

The Justinian Plague, thought to have killed half of the European population, was a bubonic plague epidemic affecting the Byzantine Empire and the Mediterranean port cities that killed 25 million people. The epidemic left its mark on the world, killed a quarter of the Eastern Mediterranean population and devastated the cities.

Galen outbreak

It was an ancient outbreak that affected Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece and Italy, and although its real cause is still unknown, it is thought to be Smallpox or Measles. This unknown disease was brought back to Rome by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia. The soldiers unknowingly spread a disease that would kill more than 5 million people and destroy the Roman army.

Asian Flu pandemic

The epidemic, known as Asian Flu, was an Influenza outbreak of the H2N2 subtype that appeared in China in 1956 and lasted until 1958. Seen in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. Estimates of the mortality caused by the Asian Flu pandemic vary depending on different sources, but the World Health Organization has announced that about 2 million people die for this reason.

Cholera epidemic

The Cholera epidemic that occurred in 1910-1911 appeared in India, where it caused more than 800 thousand deaths before spreading to the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia . The outbreak was also the source of the recent American Cholera epidemic. American health officials who took lessons from the past tried to quickly isolate infected people and eventually only 11 deaths occurred in the USA. By 1923, although it was still stable in India, cases of Cholera were significantly reduced.

Black plague

The plague epidemic destroyed Europe, Africa and Asia between 1346 and 1353, and the estimated number of deaths reached up to 200 million . The plague, thought to be of Asian origin, has probably jumped across the continents through fleas living in rats, which are often seen on merchant ships. Harbors, which were then large urban centers, were an excellent breeding ground for rats and fleas, thus maintaining insidious bacteria development and then destroyed three continents.