The world is in serious trouble. The global outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is getting out of control and the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. Death numbers and positives cases are climbing higher. 150 countries are directly or indirectly affected now. This is not the first time in human history when a pandemic has spread on a vast scale and killing people. There were many pandemics in history that caused the life of millions of people. Among those, the followings were the deadliest pandemics in history.
1. The Bubonic Plague (541-542 CE)
Death numbers – 25+ Million
Justinian (527-565 CE) was the king of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the eastern roman empire. This is the time when humanity encountered the first pandemic of history. During his regime, deadliest outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague took place from 541 to 542 CE and caused death to more than 25+ million people. Historians also call this plague as Justinian Plague.
2. The Black Death (1346-1353)
Death numbers – 50+ Million
In the middle of the 14th century, an outbreak of Plague, famously known as the scary name Black Death, had started from Europe. Later it covered the whole world and killed more than 50+ million innocent people. This was a zoonotic type disease and came from the black rats to humans. This deadliest pandemic in history swiped 60% of the total population of Europe. Ole J Benedictow, a history professor at the University of Oslo, Norway, published his research on this catastrophe and described the nightmarish situation faced by the people at that time.
3. Sixth Cholera (1910-1911)
Death numbers- 8+ Million
The sixth edition of Cholera killed more than 8 million people all around the globe. According to WHO, Cholera is an acute form of Diarrhoea. It could kill within hours if not treated timely. In its previous editions, it didn’t affect many humans because it was endemic. There is a total of seven editions has been recorded of Cholera so far and among those, the sixth one was the deadliest and was included in the top 5 pandemics in history of humanity. The seventh edition was reported in 1961 in South Asia. The origin of this disease was recognized as the Ganda deltas of India.
4. Spanish Flu (1918-1920)
Death numbers- 50 Million
Read the death numbers again. This is the most dreaded and severe pandemic in human history. It was the time of the first world war. The total death recorded in the war was 20 Million and this pandemic covered more than double numbers of it. Only in India, 10 million people lost their lives due to this flu. The mortality rate was higher in young people. The virus was H1N1. The origin of this flu was the barracks of the soldiers in France who were fighting in the First World War.
5. HIV/AIDS (1976-2012)
Death numbers – 36 Million
Though HIV/AIDS hasn’t been over yet. Here the peak time of this pandemic has been covered. The number of death cases between 2005 to 2012 was shocking. According to WHO, 38 Million people are living with this pandemic as of 2018. Originated in the Republic of Cango in 1976, the diaspora of this untreated pandemic is shocking. The name of this zoonotic virus is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Today people are more aware of HIV and the numbers of infected people are declining. It is a good positive sign. But we should not forget that it has killed a large population of the world.
My message through this article is not creating a panic situation for my readers. I just want you to know that we had fought against many pandemics in the past successfully. Today the world is fighting with another pandemic threat. I request you to participate in this fight against COVID-19. Follow the guidelines of WHO and your government. Thank you.