As humans continue to forge ahead, so do infectious diseases. Since man started to count infections and contagious ailments from 165-180 onwards, epidemics and pandemics have become a part of life. Some have affected certain regions, while others have impacted the globe.
The history of pandemics is quite interesting. Today, you will return to some of the deadliest ones that have killed more than 50-200 million. After knowing about the history, you might get a lot of hope for survival as well.
The Timeline Or History of Pandemics
It started with the Antonine Plague and has now stopped in current times at the Coronavirus pandemic. As humans continued to move across the globe, epidemics changed into pandemics, and then some stayed back in the community like endemics.
In some cases, animals have been known to act as carriers of the viruses and bacteria transferred to humans. You should know about some of the major pandemics that occurred.
Antonine Plague took place in 165-180, and it was similar to Smallpox or measles. It killed approximately 5M.
Japanese Smallpox occurred in 735-737. The Variola Major Virus was said to be behind it.
Black Death or the Bubonic Plague was relatively recent in the 1300s that came from rats and rodents. The toll was relatively high and went above 200M.
The New World Small Pox outbreak started from 1520 onwards. It also killed more than 56M.
After this, many other pandemics have hit the globe or certain regions. They are the Great Plague of London, Italian Plague, Cholera, Yellow Fever, Russian Flu, Spanish Flu, Asian Flu, Hong Kong Flu, HIV Aids, SARS, MERS, Ebola, and the current Coronavirus.
Also Read: How Has COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Education Forever?
It has been noticed that the death rates came down as the pandemics persisted in certain geographical regions. Moreover, there were improvements in healthcare facilities, and experts could identify the factors that incubate pandemics. Therefore, they were brought in control slowly.
Punishment From Gods
Some people like the astrologer fraternity or shamans have gone on to say that it’s the god’s wrath. The ancients solely believed that the pandemics resulted from human explosions and misdeeds. However, it had been detected that trade and agriculture led to the prominence and spread of the diseases.
Many historians believed that few cunning men or societies took the opportunity to weaken havoc on kingdoms that they supposed were malicious. However, with time humans have started understanding the true reasons for the pandemics and epidemics. The history of pandemics has shown some hope in the current times as well.
Quarantine Practices
Humanity began the practice of quarantine from the 1400s itself. Many ports were declared closed during the initial plagues that hit the globe. In the 19th century, statistical analysis was done to detect the causes and symptoms of the Cholera outbreak. It was found that the disease was spreading through unclean water.
With more information at hand, scientists started tracking the growth trajectory of certain diseases. One of the most infectious diseases of all time, Measles, was also studied deeply. It was seen that one person could infect 20. Herd immunity and vaccination have managed to bring it under control.
However, we are all in the outbreak stage of the Coronavirus & don’t know in which direction it is headed. You have to believe that urbanization makes epidemics spread faster in other regions and translates into pandemics.
It is a known fact that the Coronavirus erupted from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and then spread rapidly from one person to another, travelling across the globe to the USA, UK, and then other continents with lightning speed.
So, it remains to be seen what widespread pandemic results in and the times to come. Governments are laying down protocols for vaccination and social distancing. But how far these take us is still not very clear.
