Pandemics that plagued humanity
HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (AT ITS PEAK, 2005-2012)
Death Toll: 36M
Living with: 35M - mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (5% of the population infected - 21M people)
Cause: HIV/AIDS
Where did it strike? Democratic Republic of the Congo
Who did it affect? worldwide
FLU PANDEMIC (1968)
Death Toll: 1M
Mortality rate: low mortality rate (.5%)
Cause: Influenza (the H3N2 strain of the Influenza A virus, a genetic offshoot of the H2N2 subtype)
Where did it strike? Hong Kong
Who did it affect? only 17 days before outbreaks of the virus were reported in Singapore and Vietnam, and within three months had spread to The Philippines, India, Australia, Europe, and the United States; 500,000 residents of Hong Kong, approximately 15% of its population at the time.
ASIAN FLU (1956-1958)
Death Toll: 2M
Cause: Influenza - outbreak of Influenza A of the H2N2 subtype.
Where did it strike? China
Who did it affect? In its two-year spree, Asian Flu traveled from the Chinese province of Guizhou to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States(69,800 of those in the US alone).
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FLU PANDEMIC - SPANISH FLU (1918)
Death Toll: 20-50M
Cause: Influenza
Where did it strike? China
Who did it affect? Between 1918 and 1920 a disturbingly deadly outbreak of influenza tore across the globe, infecting over a third of the world’s population and ending the lives of 20 – 50 million people. Of the 500 million people infected in the 1918 pandemic, the mortality rate was estimated at 10% to 20%, with up to 25 million deaths in the first 25 weeks alone. What separated the 1918 flu pandemic from other influenza outbreaks was the victims; where influenza had always previously only killed juveniles and the elderly or already weakened patients, it had begun striking down hardy and completely healthy young adults, while leaving children and those with weaker immune systems still alive.
SIXTH CHOLERA PANDEMIC (1910-1911)
Death Toll: 800,000+
Cause: Cholera
Where did it strike? India
Who did it affect? the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and the U.S (end with only 11 deaths).
FLU PANDEMIC - “Asiatic Flu” or “Russian Flu” (1889-1890)
Death Toll: 1M
Cause: Influenza - Influenza A virus subtype H3N8
Where did it strike? Bukhara in Central Asia (Turkestan), Athabasca in northwestern Canada, and Greenland
Who did it affect? Across the globe
THIRD CHOLERA PANDEMIC (1852–1860)
Death Toll: 1M
Cause: Cholera - contaminated water as the means of transmission for the disease (British physician John Snow)
Where did it strike? India
Who did it affect? from the Ganges River Delta before tearing through Asia, Europe, North America and Africa
THE BLACK DEATH (1346-1353)
Death Toll: 75 - 200 million
Cause: Bubonic Plague
Where did it strike? Asia
Who did it affect? Europe, Africa, and Asia continents
PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN (541-542)
Death Toll: 25M
Cause: Bubonic Plague
Where did it strike? Egypt
Who did it affect? Half of the population of Europe, Byzantine Empire and Mediterranean port cities, devastating the city of Constantinople (killing estimated 5,000 people per day and eventually resulting in the deaths of 40% of the city’s population)
ANTONINE PLAGUE - THE PLAGUE OF GALEN (165 AD)
Death Toll: 5M
Cause: Black Death bacterium
Thought to have been: Smallpox or Measles
Where did it strike? brought to Rome by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia around 165 A.D.
Who did it affect? Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy
CORONAVIRUS - COVID-19 (2019 - Current)
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Death Toll: 534K as of July 05, 2020 Confirmed cases: 11.4M Recovered: 6.16M Cause: VIRUS from bats or pangolins (possible link to COVID-19) Where did it strike? region of Wuhan, China  |
Our family feels advantageous for living in the twenty first century because of the biotechnology. We believe that researchers will soon identify an effective vaccine to protect us from the COVID-19. We are also fortunate to live in the Bay Area and have easy access to technology, clean water, comfortable shelter in place, and capable healthcare providers. Even though, this virus came suddenly in our lives, it also made us more aware of our priorities and opportunities. We are social distancing and noticed that sheltering in place has allowed our family to reunite and enjoy each other's company while we, of course, miss our friends. Luckily, our close family and community friends are mostly following the rules so if we need to see them, six feet apart, we have low risk of infection. We are getting used to wearing mask and have definitely become more hygiene conscious and learned careful hand washing. One thing we need to learn is to be self sufficient and at least plant our own vegetables. We have been enjoying the stores online services and didn't even think of the possibility of not having that available to us. After this research, I understand that the future is still uncertain and we have to get ready just in case the stores close.
Thank you, Professor Andrews, for prompting us to research about Pandemics. I feel more educated now to talk about this topic and make better decisions for our family and community going forward.
Pandemics Timeline
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/pandemics-timeline
The Worst Pandemics in History - What Do They Teach Us?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uL0ZgV6POc&t=339s
Worst Pandemics in history
Beautiful work Sarita! If this doesn't caption your reader I don't know what would. I love how you organized your material showing little background on each pandemic! As we progress and the level of our intelligence grows I hope we are better prepared than our ancestors were. I just read last night that there is another "Black Plague" outbreak around which started recently in Mongolia... 2020 is not slowing down...
ReplyDeleteStay Healthy!
Thank you for your kind words, Armine. It was a great learning opportunity to do this quick research about pandemics. You are right, we should be better prepared than our ancestors were but still not looking forward to another "Black Plague" outbreak.
ReplyDeleteHealthy regards to you as well.