Top 10 Deadliest Epidemics and Pandemics in History
Throughout the course of history, disease outbreaks have ravaged humanity, sometimes changing the course of history and, at times, signaling the end of entire civilizations. Here are 10 of the worst epidemics and pandemics, dating from prehistoric to modern times.
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00:00 Throughout the course of history, disease outbreaks have ravaged humanity,
00:03 sometimes changing the course of history, and at times, signaling the end of an entire civilization.
00:10 Here's a look at 10 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history.
00:14 Antonine Plague, AD 165-180
00:20 When soldiers returned to the Roman Empire from campaigning,
00:23 they brought back more than the spoils of victory.
00:26 The Antonine Plague, which may have been smallpox, laid waste to an army
00:30 and may have killed over 5 million people.
00:32 Many historians believe that the epidemic was first brought into the Roman Empire by
00:37 soldiers returning home after a war against Parthia.
00:41 After AD 180, instability grew throughout the Roman Empire as it experienced more civil wars
00:46 and invasions by barbarian groups. Christianity became increasingly popular in the time after
00:52 the plague occurred. Plague of Justinian, AD 541-542
00:58 The Byzantine Empire was ravaged by the Bubonic Plague, which marked the start of its decline.
01:04 The plague reoccurred periodically afterwards. Some estimates suggest that up to 10% of the
01:10 world's population died. The plague is named after the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, who reigned AD
01:16 527-565. The Black Death, AD 1346-1353
01:22 The Black Death traveled from Asia to Europe, leaving devastation in its wake.
01:27 Some estimates suggest that it wiped out over half of Europe's population. It was caused by a
01:33 strain of bacterium that was spread from fleas on infected rodents. The bodies of victims were
01:38 buried in mass graves. Cocolisli Epidemic, AD 1545-1548
01:44 The infection that caused the Cocolisli Epidemic was a form of viral hemorrhagic fever that killed
01:50 15 million inhabitants of Mexico and Central America. Among the population already weakened
01:56 by extreme drought, the disease proved to be utterly catastrophic. Cocolisli is the Aztec
02:01 word for pest. American Plagues, 16th Century
02:05 The American Plagues are a cluster of Eurasian diseases brought to the Americas by European
02:11 explorers. These illnesses, including smallpox, contributed to the collapse of the Inca and
02:16 Aztec civilizations. Some estimates suggest that 90% of the indigenous population in the
02:21 Western Hemisphere was killed off. The disease helped a Spanish force led by HernĂ¡n CortĂ©s
02:26 conquer the Aztecs in 1519, and another Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro to conquer the
02:32 Incas in 1532. Great Plague of London, 1665-1666
02:40 The Black Death's last major outbreak in Great Britain caused a mass exodus from London led by
02:46 King Charles II. The plague started in April 1665 and spread rapidly through the hot summer months.
02:52 Fleas from plague-infected rodents were one of the main causes of transmission.
02:56 By the time the plague ended, about 100,000 people, including 15% of the population of
03:01 London, had died. Flu Pandemic, 1889-1890
03:07 In the modern industrial age, new transport links made it easier for influenza viruses to wreak
03:12 havoc. In just a few months, the disease spanned the globe, killing 1 million people. It took just
03:17 five weeks for the epidemic to reach peak mortality. The earliest cases were reported in Russia. The
03:23 virus spread rapidly throughout St. Petersburg before quickly making its way throughout Europe
03:27 and the rest of the world, despite the fact that air travel did not yet exist.
03:32 Spanish Flu, 1918-1920 An estimated 500 million people from the
03:37 South Seas to the North Pole fell victim to Spanish Flu. One-fifth of those died,
03:42 with some indigenous communities pushed to the brink of extinction. The flu's spread and lethality
03:46 was enhanced by the cramped conditions of soldiers and poor wartime nutrition that many people were
03:51 experiencing during World War I. Despite the name Spanish Flu, the disease likely did not start in
03:57 Spain. Spain was a neutral nation during the war and did not enforce strict censorship of its press,
04:02 which could therefore freely publish early accounts of the illness. As a result, people
04:07 falsely believed the illness was specific to Spain and the name Spanish Flu stuck.
04:12 Asian Flu, 1957-1958 The Asian Flu Pandemic was another global
04:18 showing for influenza. With its roots in China, the disease claimed more than 1 million lives.
04:23 The virus that caused the pandemic was a blend of avian flu viruses. The Centers for Disease
04:29 Control and Prevention note that the disease spread rapidly and was reported in Singapore
04:33 in February 1957, Hong Kong two months later, and the coastal cities of the United States by summer.
04:39 The total death toll was more than 1.1 million worldwide, with 116,000 deaths occurring in the
04:45 United States. The AIDS Pandemic and Epidemic, 1981-Present Day
04:52 AIDS has claimed an estimated 35 million lives since it was first identified. HIV, which is the
04:57 virus that causes AIDS, likely developed from a chimpanzee virus that transferred to humans in
05:03 West Africa in the 1920s. The virus made its way around the world and AIDS was a pandemic by the
05:09 20th century. Now, about 64% of the estimated 40 million people living with human immunodeficiency
05:15 virus live in Sub-Saharan Africa. For decades, the disease had not known a cure, but medication
05:22 developed in the 1990s now allows people with the disease to experience a normal lifespan with
05:27 regular treatment. Even more encouraging, two people have been cured of HIV as early as 2020.