How Did The Deadliest Diseases in History Appear and How Did They Die?
We share every corner of our planet with other creatures. These include bacteria, germs and viruses on a microscopic scale. There are those who help us get what we eat and help us, but there are those who can end ourselves.
Even now, you have malignant bacteria and germs in your body, hands, and mouth. For example, there is a 25 percent chance of carrying the deadly staphylococcus bacteria. These bacteria may not harm you, but you could lose your life if you get them from someone else.
Our immune system and the possibilities of today’s medicine are usually sufficient to protect us, but these microorganisms have been living in the world for much longer than we do, and are more resilient and determined to preserve their lineage.
Of course, determining human survival cannot be taken lightly. Despite enormous losses, humanity has managed to survive the most terrible epidemics ever and continue its kind.
Here are the deadliest epidemics that have shaped human history:
1- Antoninus (Galen) Outbreak
Antoninus plague, an epidemic disease that occurred in the Roman Empire between 165-180 AD and was brought by soldiers returning from eastern expeditions, is one of the first known major plague epidemics that killed 2 thousand people a day.
The true cause remains unclear, although researchers suspect the disease to be a smallpox or measles. The epidemic caused the death of the Roman Emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, while the empire lost 30 percent of its total population.
2- The Plague of Justinian
When Emperor Justinian ascended the throne in Constantinople in 541, an epidemic that started in Europe first reached Egypt, then Palestine, Syria and Anatolia. Although Justinian closed all exits to Constantinople, the epidemic entered the city through rats, which were among the supplies brought by the soldiers.
Less than a millimeter hidden in the mice’s fur, a volatile insect called ‘Xenopsylla’ carried deadly plague bacteria called ‘Pasteurella pestie’ in its stomach. These insects flew and settled among the feathers of other mice in the area and multiplied rapidly.
Insects that migrated to any part of the human body and passed on to the plague microbe caused the people they infected to die within a few days.
Within a week, the plague spread rapidly in the city and deaths began. The surrounding area of the palace was quarantined by military units. The death toll from a few hundred a day reached thousands in a short time. When the graves were full, the dead began to be thrown into the sea.
The disease remained normal and disappeared spontaneously over time, but Constantinople, one of the most populous cities at the time, lost 40 percent of its population. The epidemic lost its workforce and troops and left Byzantium weakened and vulnerable, leading to developments that radically changed European history.
3- Black Plague
The Black Plague epidemic, which occurred between 1346 and 1353, is thought to have killed between 75 and 200 million people. Although it is not possible to know the exact numbers, it is stated that the European population has decreased by 30 to 60 percent in these years.
It is known that the Black Plague epidemic, which caused the god and the church to be questioned in the society after the massacre, was one of the main causes of religion and renaissance in many areas of life.
4- Native Americans Encounter Chickenpox
In the 15th century, Europeans discovered the new world. European explorers who came into contact with the natives of the American continent infected the viruses and bacteria they brought with them.
Chickenpox had already killed a third of Europe, but the Native Americans, whose immune systems were underdeveloped like Europeans, and whose medicines were insufficient, had no chance. Millions of people died then and 90 percent of the indigenous population died. This made it extremely easy for the continent to colonize America by the Europeans.
Until the early 19th century, one in two Native Americans died of diseases of European origin.
5-Cocoliztli Outbreaks
The epidemic of the epidemic that occurred in the same period in the 16th century, called “New Spain” and the epidemic of several different diseases seen in the region in Mexico known as “cocoliztli epidemics”.
As a result of today’s investigations, it is believed that the epidemics, which are thought to be caused by the salmonella bacteria found in fish, killed a total of 15 million people between 1520 and 1576, mark the beginning of the end of Maya civilization and spread. Years from Venezuela to Canada.
6- Seven Different Cholera Outbreaks
There have been seven major cholera outbreaks in our civilization history, but the deadliest of these was the epidemic that occurred between 1852 and 1860. The main cause of cholera was contamination of drinking water, but this was not understood until the third pandemic. .
For a long time, human feces and wastes also spilled into water sources used for drinking and cooking. The place where this became a major disaster was India at the time.
Even today, the Ganges River, one of the world’s most polluted rivers, contains 1.1 billion fecal bacteria in 100 milliliters. According to a study conducted in 2011. The worst water you can wash at this rate is 500 thousand times the acceptable rate. Hindus believe that bathing in this river is sacred and that they make the most of the river water in their daily work. Therefore, cholera is a common type of disease in this region.
However, with the great epidemic in the 19th century, cholera spread throughout India to Afghanistan and Russia. According to official records, the epidemic, which caused the death of 1 million people even in Russia, reached Europe, Africa and finally America.
1 in 5 people infected with cholera will experience dangerous diarrhea. Half of these people will die if they are not treated quickly. Although the total number of people who died in the seven cholera epidemics is unknown, it is possible to estimate this in millions.
With the third epidemic, doctors found the cause of cholera, and knowledge that drinking water should be treated and boiled has spread around the world since then.
7-Third Plague Outbreak
This epidemic, which started in China between 1855 and 1859 and spread to the world and caused the death of 12 million people in China and India alone, was named the ‘Third Plague’ after the Justinian Plague and Europe’s Black Plague.
The epidemic, whose effects lasted for a century, was carried from the far east to the American continent by rats. Unlike previous plagues, medical science allowed the study of this disease and therapeutic drugs. Antibiotics came first.
8- Typhus Outbreak During the First World War
The epidemic caused by lice carrying Typhus bacteria between 1914 and 1918 was a phenomenon brought about by war. 25 million people fell ill in Europe and Asia, and around 3 million died, especially in the countries of the Soviet Union. Western countries quickly understood what caused the epidemic, and measures were taken to get rid of lice. Eastern countries took action later, and therefore more people died in this part of the world.
9-1918 Spanish Flu Outbreak
Infected by 500 million people in the years after World War I, the H1N1 influenza virus killed 50 to 100 million healthy people with high fever worldwide. This number is much more than the total number of people killed in the first and second world wars.
What sets this virus apart from others is that the stronger the immune system of the body it attacks, the higher the fever. The Spanish flu has been recorded as one of the biggest disasters in history.
10-1950 Asian Flu Outbreak
The flu-A virus that started in China is thought to be a mutated disease in ducks and transmitted to humans. The disease, called the Asian Flu, has claimed the lives of nearly 4 million people. The epidemic was prevented with the same vaccine. 40 million people were vaccinated in one year.
Asian Flu has become one of the most important examples demonstrating the importance and effect of mass vaccination.
11-HIV (AIDS) Virus
In the mid-20th century, the first detectable HIV virus that was understood to have passed from monkeys to humans was seen in Congo in 1959. However, the diagnosis and name were made only in the 1980s. There is still no solution to cure the virus that has claimed the lives of 36 million people in the last 30 years. It is only necessary to take precautions after getting the disease and to use drug therapy for life.
