Comparing the worst pandemics in world history
Few pandemics were as devastating as the Bubonic Plague, even if our recency bias says otherwise.
BUbonic plague
Location/Origin: Central Asia, near modern-day Kyrgyzstan
Time Period: 1346-1351
Spread: Through bites from infected fleas that lived on rodents. (Primarily by ships)
Death Toll: 75-200 million people
The Spanish flu
Location/Origin: Likely originated in the United States. First reported case at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, Kansas.
Time Period: 1918
Spread: The H1N1 virus spread via global troop movements during World War I. Airborne respiratory droplets of infected individuals would transmit the virus when they coughed, sneezed, or spoke.
Death Toll: 50 million people
HIV/aids
Location/Origin: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and would later spread across the world.
Time Period: The first reported case was in the 1920s, with cases peaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Spread: Spread from chimpanzees to humans through contact with infected blood at its genesis. However, unprotected sex, needle sharing, and blood transfusions primarily contributed to its global surge.
Death Toll: 44 million people
Location/Origin: Wuhan, China, and would spread nationwide.
Time Period: First reported case in December 2019. (Wuhan) The pandemic officially ended in May 2023.
Spread: Zoonotic in its origin, linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan. Spread through respiratory droplets of an infected person containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, via the nose, eyes, or mouth. Very contagious and often spread through close contact.
Death Toll: 7 million people