Megadeath

A Timeline of Plagues, Epidemics & Pandemics

DEFINITIONS

Outbreak
The sudden rise of the incidence of disease or the sudden rapid increase in the number of harmful organisms, particularly insects (ref: Merriam- Webster Online).

Epidemic
When an outbreak spreads rapidly, as in the case of infectious diseases, and affects a disproportionate number of people within the same population, community, or region at the same time.

Pandemic
When an epidemic occurs over a wide geographic area.

Plague
A widespread calamity, infestation, or epidemic with a high rate of mortality. Can also be a reference to The Plague, which is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.

An outbreak can lead to an epidemic, which in turn can lead to a pandemic.

Note: In the timeline below, I have distinguished between an epidemic (or pandemic) and a disease. For example, influenza is a disease, but there have been many flu epidemics. The number of deaths reported is for a particular epidemic. Also, I selected particularly deadly epidemics that killed a significant percentage of the population. Many epidemics have not been included in this list, as I have tried to pick ones that were historically significant and had approximate death counts. I did not include a separate listing for Native Americans in the U.S. because, although a large portion of the population died from smallpox, measles, and other diseases, they did not necessarily die from one particular disease with a death toll. This is in contrast to the Aztecs in Mexico who died of smallpox.

TIMELINE

165–180 & 251–266
• Antonine Plague Possibly Smallpox: 60–70 million deaths¹
(Europe, up to 33% of the population)

541–542
• Justinian Plague: 25–50 million deaths²
Bubonic (Europe, Asia Minor, Northern Africa, about 25% of world population)

735–737
• Japanese Smallpox Epidemic: Approx. 1 million deaths³
Smallpox (Japan)

1347–1351
• Black Death: Approx. 25 million deaths⁴
Bubonic (Europe)

1520
• Mexico Smallpox Epidemic: 5–8 million deaths⁵
Smallpox (Aztec and indigenous)

1545–1548, 1576–1578
• Cocoliztli Epidemic: 7–17 million deaths⁶
Unknown (85% of Mexican pop.)

1772
• Bubonic Plague: 2 million deaths⁷
(Persia)

1855–1959
• Third Plague Pandemic: 15 million deaths⁸
Bubonic (Mostly India and China)

1895–1906
• Congolese Sleeping Sickness Epidemic: 500,000 deaths⁹
African Sleeping Sickness

1899–1923
• Sixth Cholera Pandemic: Over 800,000 deaths¹⁰
Cholera (Asia)

1918
• Spanish Flu: 20–50 million deaths¹¹
H1N1 Influenza (Worldwide)

1918–1922
• Russian Typhus Epidemic: 2.5 million deaths¹²
Typhus (Russia)

1957–1958
• Asian Flu: 1–4 million deaths¹³
H2N2 Influenza (Worldwide)

1968
• Hong Kong Flu: 1–5 million deaths¹⁴
H3N2 Influenza (Worldwide)

1981–2001
• HIV/AIDS Pandemic: 21.8 million deaths¹⁵
HIV/AIDS (Worldwide)

2009–2010
• Swine Flu: 100,000–400,000 deaths¹⁶
H1N1 Influenza (Worldwide)

2019–2020
• COVID-19: More than 480,000 deaths¹⁷
SARS-CoV-2 (Worldwide)

Notes
1. John Horgan, "Antonine Plague," Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu/Antonine_Plague.
2. John Horgan, "Justinian's Plague (541–542 CE)," Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce.
3. George C. Kohn, Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence (Facts on File, 2001), p. 184.
4. Encyclopedia Britannica: britannica.com/event/Black-Death.
5. Rodolfo Acuna-Soto, et al., "Megadrought and Megadeath in 16th Century Mexico," Emerging Infectious Diseases (April 2002): ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730237; Kohn (note 2), p. 224.
6. Ibid.
7. Kohn (note 2), pp. 256–257.
8. Josh Sanburn, "The Third Plague Pandemic" TIME (Oct. 26, 2010): http://content.time.
com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2027479_2027486_2027498,00. html; Kohn (note 2), pp. 268, 269. 9. Kohn (note 2), p. 66.
10. Kohn (note 2), pp. 16, 17.
11. WHO, "Past Pandemics": euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/influenza/pandemic-influenza/past-pandemics.
12. K. D. Patterson, "Typhus and its control in Russia, 1870–1940," Medical History (October 1993): ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1036775; Kohn (note 2), pp. 290, 291.
13. WHO, "Past Pandemics" (note 11).
14. WHO, "Past Pandemics" (note 11).
15. Kohn (note 2), pp. 140, 141.
16. WHO, "Past Pandemics" (note 11).
17. Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center (as of June 25, 2020): https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.