Top 13 most terrible epidemics in human history

Yellow fever was one of the epidemics that entered the United States during the transit of slaves from Africa. This dangerous epidemic destroyed almost all of Napoleon’s invincible army of an estimated 33.000 people sent to the colony in North America, 29.000 of which were killed by yellow fever epidemic.

Similar to malaria, yellow fever can be spread through an intermediate host, a mosquito. According to the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), yellow fever is an acute infectious disease caused by the yellow fever virus. The virus is transmitted by blood from infected humans and animals to healthy people through the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes. The Aedes mosquito is both the main vector of the yellow fever virus and also a reservoir for the pathogen.

The World Health Organization estimates there are 200.000 cases of yellow fever worldwide each year, resulting in 30.000 deaths. Yellow fever seems to be on the rise globally due to weakened human immune systems, deforestation, climate change and high-density urbanization.

SARS (short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) caused by a virus called virus SARS cause. SARS-CoV is believed to be an animal virus from an uncertain animal reservoir, presumably bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats) and was first infected in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. 2002. From November 11 to July 2002, the pandemic SARS It broke out in Hong Kong and quickly spread to other parts of the world into a pandemic with 8422 infections and 916 deaths worldwide (fatality rate 10,9%).

In just a few weeks SARS With the starting point is that Hong Kong has spread to 37 countries around the world in early 2003, causing extremely heavy effects, including Vietnam. Therefore, the SARS epidemic is considered one of the largest and most terrifying epidemics in the world ever.

Spanish flu pandemic year 1918 One of the deadliest pandemics in history. The epidemic infected about 500 million people worldwide (about a third of the population at the time) and caused 50 million deaths. The 1918 influenza pandemic was first detected in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before rapidly spreading around the world. At that time, there was no vaccine and no effective treatment for the disease.

This flu pandemic is caused by influenza A virus strain H1N1 – which is a type of bird flu that infects humans. At the present time most people have immunity to the H1N1 virus.

Between 1545 and 1548, a mysterious illness, characterized by high fever and bleeding, ravaged the Mexican highlands, immediately following prolonged droughts. The disease was called by the native Aztecs Cocoliztli, the culprit wiped out almost all the indigenous people.

Until the end, Cocciztli claimed between 5 and 15 million people, or 80% of Mexico’s indigenous population, one of the worst demographic catastrophes in human history, equivalent to the Black Death pandemic. traveled about 25 million people in Western Europe between 1347 and 1351 or about 50% of the region’s population.

The epidemic Cocciztli The second wave took place between 1576 and 1578, killing an additional 2 – 2,5 million people, or 50% of the remaining indigenous population. New diseases that have spread from Europe and Africa such as smallpox, measles and typhus have long been considered the cause of the region’s population decline. Careful analysis of the epidemics of 1545 and 1576 suggests that they may have been hemorrhagic fevers, caused by an indigenous virus and transmitted by rodents.

Corona virus New 2019 (referred to as 2019 nCoV) is a new respiratory virus strain that has never appeared in humans and is currently causing an epidemic in Wuhan, China and has spread to a number of other countries such as Vietnam, Japan Copy…

The origin of the strain is currently unknown 2019-nCoV. The virus genome sequencing study showed that this virus strain has 96,3% similarity with the strain corona virus from bats, so there is a high possibility that this is a virus strain from bats that mutated and then infected humans. Now confirmed by the medical community 2019-Ncov capable of being transmitted from person to person.

As of February 05, 02, there were 2020 infections and 24.536 deaths in the world. To date, there is no specific treatment for this virus. So everyone, let’s join hands to fight the epidemic by well implementing the prevention recommendations of the Ministry of Health such as: Limit contact in crowded places, wear medical masks, wash hands with soap regularly.. ..

Cholera (Scientific name is Cholera) is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae because its toxins cause severe diarrhea with dehydration. This disease has plagued the people of India since ancient times, but it was not until the 19th century that it broke out around the world. The body’s immune system can easily defeat Cholera bacteria. However, our body can’t wait until that time due to the loss of too much water which is fatal.

The first person to identify the germ that causes Cholera was Robert Koch in 1883. With better living conditions, cholera gradually disappeared. However, in 1991, a cholera epidemic broke out and there were 300.000 cases and 4.000 deaths that year.

Worldwide, cholera affects an estimated 3-5 million people and causes at least 100.000-130.000 deaths a year.

More than 35 years ago, American doctors first encountered a scary and mysterious virus called HIV, the culprit that took the lives of young, healthy young people by destroying the already healthy immune system. their. HIV, according to scientific research, may originate from the SIV virus that causes immunodeficiency in monkeys and apes in western Central Africa. From these primates, the virus is transmitted to humans in many ways, one of which may be the wild game that Africans still hunt for food.

As a result, the disease of the century HIV / AIDS took more than 35 million lives and destroyed the happiness of many families. Currently, around the world, about 34 million people are living with HIV / AIDS; about 1,4 million pregnant women are HIV positive; more than 960 babies are HIV-positive every day from birth; The region with the highest HIV prevalence in the world is Africa…

These talking numbers are a testament to the terrible extent and ability of this disease to spread rapidly. Currently, countries are not only stepping up prevention HIV / AIDS helped reduce the number of deaths caused by this disease by 25% in recent years.

Plague Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, this was once one of the largest and most terrible diseases in the world with a very high mortality rate, potentially dangerously contagious. Yersinia pestis is an extremely virulent rod-shaped bacterium that disables the host’s immune system by injecting toxins into immune cells such as macrophages, which are responsible for detecting invading bacteria. Once these cells are removed, the bacteria can multiply quickly without hindrance. Plague It is transmitted mainly from rodents to humans by means of fleas.

When suffering plague Patients will have typical symptoms such as fever, headache, body fatigue, necrosis in the armpits and groin and swollen lymph nodes, especially. Plague It used to be a terrible obsession in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and North Asia in the period 1346 – 1350 because 2/3 of the infected people died within 4 days.

The Black Death pandemic that raged in Europe and many other parts of the world ended in 1350, but the plague still reappeared after a few generations over the centuries. Good hygiene and public health practices have greatly reduced the impact of the disease, but still cannot be ruled out.

Smallpox is caused by 2 viruses, Variola major and Variola minor (of which Variola major is more virulent), this is an infectious disease that occurs only in humans. The smallpox virus causes disease in small blood vessels under the skin, mouth, and throat.

Smallpox It is one of the deadliest pandemics that humans have ever suffered with a mortality rate of up to 30%. Sick Smallpox It is also capable of spreading through inhalation of viruses in the air, from fluids in the throat, nose, and throat mucosa of an infected person. In 1796, the vaccine contained Smallpox has been controlled, but up to now, this disease still sometimes breaks out again.

Tuberculosis Caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, most commonly in the lungs, but significantly affecting the nervous system, lymphatic system, circulatory system, excretory system and skeletal system, …

today, tuberculosis is the main and most common infectious disease, it affects about 2 billion people or 1/3 of the world’s population; There are about 9 million new cases of TB each year, causing 1,5 million deaths and concentrated mainly in developing countries.

With the development of the world, tuberculosis has a cure (mainly in pill form), which can be cured.

Malaria is also one of the oldest known diseases, dating back more than 4000 years. Malaria Caused by the Plasmodium parasite, this disease is capable of spreading from person to person through mosquito bites. The tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, Asia and Africa are home to the most cases of malaria. An estimated 515 million people worldwide are infected malaria and 1 to 3 million people die each year.

Currently, there are about 10.000 cases of malaria in Western Europe and 1300 – 1500 per year in the United States. Malaria distributed in a wide range around the equator, parts of America, Asia, and most parts of Africa; sub-Saharan Africa with 85-90% of deaths due to malaria.

In 2012, a new virus originating from camels appeared in the Middle East and gradually became a global pandemic. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) export is now spreading with terrifying speed. Since 2012, translation MERS present in 25 countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of June 7, 6 people have been infected with the virus MERS virus, 442 people died. South Korea alone, which is considered an “outbreak”, 95 cases of infection and 7 deaths from the disease.

By 2015, this pandemic was still raging in Korea and China. As of June 17, 6, in the world, 2015 cases were recorded MERS-CoV, 466 deaths in 26 countries.

Ebola epidemic The outbreak was caused by the Ebola Zaire virus. Ebola disease It started in Guine in December 12 but it was not discovered until March 2013 and spread to other countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and many other countries.

Initially, the virus spread to humans through direct contact with the blood, body fluids, and tissues of animals. The Ebola virus is then spread to others through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected or deceased person. This can happen when a person touches infected bodily fluids (or objects that carry the virus) and the virus enters through a cut in broken skin, through the eyes, nose, or mouth. In addition, it is possible to contract the virus through sexual contact with an infected person.

As of October 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a total of 2014 suspected cases of HIV infection. Ebola virus including 4.922 deaths. To the present time Ebola epidemic has been controlled.