Infectious diseases are a major cause of mainly death ,but also disability and social & economic turmoil for millions of people around the world , poor countries are effected the most because of the lack of proper heath care, and limited access to drugs , for exemple in a poor country such as Somalia there are as many as 40000 people per doctor , Africa in total has about one doctor for every 5000 people, that make's it impossible to deal with such infectious diseases resulting in a massive number of deaths each year , here are the top five deadliest diseases in history.
1: THE BLACK DEATH ( 75/ 200 MILLION)
💀death toll :75 million
Also known as the PESTILENCE the GREAT MORALITY or the PLAGUE , was a bubonic plague that occurred in western Eurasia and north Africa between 1346 and 1353 , this is the most fatal pandemic recorded i human history ( so far ) , The plague is caused by the bacterium yersinia Pestis ( sounds lovely ) it was mainly spread by fleas , but also by personal contact via aerosols that causes Septicaemic or Pneumonic plagues ( sounds dangerous , cause it is ) , no one really knows the origins of this fatal disease or it's outbreak , some point to central Asia , china ( no dispute on this one now ) the middle east and Europe , the plague was most likely carried by fleas living on Rats that came on ships , spreading through the Mediterranean sea , the black death is the second natural disaster ( we all know the human made ones) to hit Europe during the Middle Ages , the first one was the great famine of 1315-1317 which killed an estimated 30 percent to 60 percent of Europe population in those times .
2: SMALLPOX ( 56 / 300 MILLION)
💀causes :The Variola virus
💀death toll: 56 / 300 million
Smallpox is a deadly disease that emerged 3000 to 4000 years ago , the virus had a major impact on the world history , the disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year during the 18th century ,and was responsible for blinding a massive number of people during that period plus over 80% of infected children died from this fatal disease , the disease was responsible of an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths during the 20th century , another estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred globally each year in the 1950s making it one of the deadliest diseases of all time. ( glad i did not live in the time of smallpox , but looking at the world right now , I kinda wish i did ) throughout the 19th & 20th centuries vaccination campaigns where lunched and it was a success , making it one of two infectious diseases to have being vanquished , the other being Rinderpest ( wonderful name not sure about the disease )
3:SPANISH FLU ( 45 million )
💀causes : H1N1 virus
💀death toll : 45 million
It was named based on the 1918 flu pandemic , also known as the great influenza epidemic, the first documented case was in march 1918 in Kansas city , United States with other cases reported in France , Germany and the United Kingdom, in 1920 nearly a third of the world population was infected by this deadly disease that an estimated of 500 million people , resulting in the killing of an estimated 45 million people, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in the history of the world (so far).the pandemic started near the end of world war 1( apparently people did not had enough death) the outbreak was reported mainly from neutral Spain, giving a false impression of the country as the centre of the epidemic ,and leading to the giving name THE SPANISH FLU ,the flu mostly effected young adults .
4: PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN ( 40 million)
💀causes : Yersinia pestis
💀death toll: 40 million
Justinianic plague or the plague of Justinian was the first old world pandemic and the first recorded one to be exact taking place in between 541 to 549 AD ( thank god) the disease infected the entire Mediterranean and Europe plus the Near East, effecting the Byzantine and the Sasanian Empires and especially Constantinople , the plague is named after the Byzantine Emperor Justinian 527-565 ( that one there was a violation , personally i wouldn't have it ) who himself caught the disease and recovered in 542 , the epidemic killed about a fifth of the population in the imperial capital , the plague went all the way to the Roman Egypt Empire in 544 and stayed in the Northen Europe and the Arabian Peninsula until 549 ( apparently it loved the place ).in 2013 it was confirmed by researchers that the plague was caused by the same bacterium that cause the BLACK DEATH which was the Yersinia Pestis ( sounds super friendly), it was later discovered that it might have been originated in the Tian Shan ( a system of mountains on the border of Kyrgyzstan , Kazakhstan and ( wait for it) CHINA ( what a surprise ).
5:HIV/AIDS ( 30/40 million )
💀causes :A VIRUS
💀death toll: 30/40 million
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( long ass name )
The virus is primarily spread by unprotected sex ( both anal and vaginal ) also by contaminated blood transfusions like needles , and from mother to child during pregnancy ( poor child ) and even in breastfeeding , although it can't be transmitted by some body fluids such as Saliva , Sweet and tears , oral sex has little to no risk of transmitting the virus ( that's a relief ) , HIA/AIDS has a massive impact on the society as an illness and as a source of discrimination .The disease made the move from other primates to humans in west-central Africa , earlier in the 20th century and since the beginning of this deadly epidemic 84 million have been infected with it and almost 40 million have lost their lives to this fatal virus , although it is deadly there are millions of people living with the disease at the end of 2021 ;making it one of the deadliest diseases in the current history.
i hope this helps in any shape or form stay safe everyone 😉
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