Timeline
1510
Influenza / Asia
The 1510 flu pandemic was the first to be chronicled across continents. It originated in Asia before spreading through North Africa and Europe.
1545
Smallpox Epidemic / India
Thought to have been introduced by the Portugese, estimated 8000 children died
1545
1557-1559
Influenza Pandemic / India
In 1557 a pandemic strain of influenza emerged in Asia recorded in Goa around September of that year. It spread west along established trade and pilgrimage routes to Africa, Europe, and eventually the Americas.
1563 -1564
Bubonic Plague / UK
The 1563 London plague was the worst episode of plague during the sixteenth century. At least 20,136 people in London and surrounding parishes were thought to have died during this outbreak
1563 -1564
1592-1593
Bubonic Plague / Malta
This was a major outbreak of the plague on the island of Malta. It occurred in three waves from June 1592 and September 1593, and it resulted in approximately 3000 deaths (around 11% of the Maltese population). The disease was imported to Malta by Tuscan galleys that had captured vessels from Alexandria.
1592-1593
Bubonic Plague / UK
This was London’s last major plague outbreak of the plague in the 16th century. At least 15,000 people died within the City of London and another 4,900 died of plague in the surrounding parishes.
1592-1593
1603
Bubonic Plague / UK
A estimated 40,000 people died
1637
Bubonic Plague / UK
Another bout of the bubonic plague in which over 10,000 people died. The was the last major outbreak of Bubonic plague to occur in England
1637
1665-1666
Bubonic Plague / UK
Known as the Great Plague of London in which an estimated 100,000 people (a quarter of the population of London) died.
1675-1676
Bubonic Plague / Malta
The 1675–1676 Malta plague epidemic was a major outbreak of the plague on the island and it resulted in approximately 11,300 deaths, making it the deadliest epidemic in Maltese history.
1675-1676
1687
Influenza / South Africa
The virus that caused outbreak was not known and neither was the death toll
1761
Influenza / West Indies
Known as the North America and West Indies influenza epidemic, the number of total deaths was unknown
1761
1775-1776
Influenza / England
Very little known, no estimate of death toll.
1789-1790
Smallpox / Australia
Exact death toll unknown but thought to have wiped out 50-70% of the native population
1789-1790
1813-1814
Bubonic Plague / Malta
This was the last major outbreak of plague on the islands of Malta. It resulted in approximately 4500 deaths, which was about 5% of the islands’ population.
1817
Typhus / Ireland
Known the 1817 Ireland Typhus Epidemic, it took 65,000 lives
1817
1817-1824
Cholera / India
The first Cholera pandemic began in Bengal and by 1820 had spread across India killing hundreds of thousands of Indians and ten thousand British troops. This outbreak extended as far as China, Indonesia (where more than 100,000 people succumbed on the island of Java alone) and the Caspian Sea in Europe, before receding
1826-1837
Cholera / India
Known as the second cholera pandemic and the Asiatic cholera pandemic. It spread from India to western Asia to Europe, Britain and the Americas as well as east to China and Japan. Cholera caused more death (100,000 pls), more quickly, than any other epidemic disease in the 19th century and by this time was believed to be exclusively a human disease, spread through many means of travel and transmitted through warm fecal-contaminated river waters and contaminated foods
1826-1837
1828-1829
Smallpox / Australia
Thought to have killed around 19,000 people
1840
Smallpox / South Africa
Known as the South Africa Smallpox Epidemic , death toll unknown
1840
1847-1848
Typhus / Canada
The North America Typhus Epidemic of 1847 was caused by the massive Irish emigration during the Great Famine, aboard crowded and disease-ridden Coffin ships
1847-1848
Influenza / Worldwide
1847–1848 Influenza epidemic as it was known spread worldwide
1847-1848
1848-1849
Cholera / UK
Called the Broad Street Cholera Outbreak, it claimed the lives of 616 people. It occurred during the 1846–1860 cholera pandemic happening worldwide. It is best known for the physician John Snow’s study of its causes and his hypothesis that germ-contaminated water was the source of cholera, rather than particles in the air. This discovery came to influence public health and the construction of improved sanitation facilities beginning in the mid-19th century.
1855
Yellow Fever / UK
Known as the Norfolk Yellow Fever Epidemic it claimed the lives of 3000 people in Norfolk and Portsmouth.
1855
1855-1960
Bubonic Plague / Worldwide
The third plague pandemic as it became known was a major bubonic plague pandemic that began in China in 1855 and spread to all inhabited continents. It led to more than 12 million deaths in India and China, with about 10 million killed in India alone. According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic was considered active until 1960, when worldwide casualties dropped to 200 per year. Deaths have continued at a lower level every year since.
1857
Smallpox / Australia
Called the Victoria smallpox epidemic, the death toll was unknown
1857
1857-1859
Influenza / Europe and North and South America
Called the Europe and the Americas influenza epidemic, not much is known about it not even an estimated death toll.
1862-1863
Smallpox / British Columbia and Canada
British Columbia Smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of at least 32,000 people.
1862-1863
1867
Measles / Australia
The Sydney measles epidemic, death toll was thought to be around 748
1870-1875
Smallpox / Europe
Europe smallpox epidemic, death toll 500,000
1870-1875
1875
Measles / Fiji
Claimed the lives of at least 40,000
1875-1876
Scarlet Fever / Australia
Claimed the lives of 8,000
1875-1876
1881-1896
Cholera / Asia, Africa, Europe, South America
Called the Fifth Cholera Pandemic as it was the fifth major international outbreak of cholera in the 19th century. The death toll was estimated to be over 290,000. It spread throughout Asia and Africa, and reached parts of France, Germany, Russia, and South America.
1885
Smallpox / Canada
Montreal smallpox epidemic, estimated death toll over 3000
1885
1889-1890
Influenza / Worldwide
The 1889–1890 flu pandemic, was also known as the Asiatic and Russian flu. It killed around a million people worldwide out of a population of about 1.5 billion and was the last great pandemic of the 19th century.
1896-1905
Bubonic Plague / India
The Bombay plague epidemic struck the city of Bombay (now Mumbai). This plague killed over 20,000, and many fled the city leading to a drastic fall in the city’s population. It was thought to have been caused by the rapid growth of Bombay’s commerce leading to a large influx of workers.
1896-1905
1896-1906
African trypanosomiasis / Africa
The Congo Basin African trypanosomiasis epidemic is caused by an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is often called the African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness. This epidemic claimed the lives of around 500,00 Africans.
1899-1923
Cholera / Europe, Asia, Africa
Known as the Six Cholera Pandemic, it was thought to have originated at Haridwar Kumbh Mela, an event held every 12 year in Haridwar, India and quickly spread to Europe via Punjab, Afghanistan, Persia, and southern Russia and claimed the lives of over 800,000 people.
1899-1923
1900
Bubonic Plague / Australia
Sydney bubonic plague epidemic, killed over 100 people
1900-1920
African trypanosomiasis / Uganda
Another bout of the African Sleeping Sickness. Thought to have killed anywhere between 200,00-300,000 Ugandans
1900-1920
1901-2009
Kuru / Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Kuru Epidemic. Kuru is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder which was common among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. Kuru is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) caused by the transmission of abnormally folded proteins (prion proteins), which leads to symptoms such as tremors and loss of coordination from neurodegeneration. It has claimed over 3000 lives.
1903
Bubonic Plague / India
A smaller but nonetheless significant epidemic claiming the lives of over 20 people
1903
1903
Bubonic Plague / Australia
Death toll 4.
1915
Encephalitis lethargica / Worldwide
Death toll 1.5 million Encephalitis lethargica is an unusual form of encephalitis. Also known as “sleeping sickness”. The disease attacks the brain, leaving some victims in a statue-like condition, speechless and motionless. From 1915 to 1926 the encephalitis lethargica spread pandemic spread across the world infecting over five million people a third of whom died in the acute stages.Many of those who survived never regained their health. Estimated death toll as around 1.5 million
1915
1918
Influenza (Spanish Flu) / Worldwide
This pandemic was also known as the Spanish Flu and conceded with the end of the First World War. This was an unusually deadly pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. It lasted from February 1918 to April 1920 and infected 500 million people (around a third of the world’s population at the time). There were four successive waves and the death toll is estimated to be between 17 and 50 million, but possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.
1927
Typhoid Fever / Canada
The Montreal typhoid fever epidemic claimed the lives of over 500 Canadians
1927
1929-1930
Psittacosis / Worldwide
The 1929–1930 psittacosis pandemic, also known as the the great parrot fever pandemic was a series of simultaneous outbreaks of psittacosis accelerated by the breeding and transportation of birds in crowded containers for trade and was initially to have originated in parrots from South America. It was shortly found to have spread from several species of birds from several countries worldwide to humans between mid 1929 and early 1930. Diagnosed by its clinical features and link to birds, it affected around 750- 800 people globally, with a mortality of 15% (death toll estimated at over 100) . Its mode of transmission to humans by mouth-to-beak contact or inhaling dried bird secretions and droppings was not known at the time. The cause was Chlamydia psittaci a bacteria which lays dormant in birds until activated by stress of capture or confinement. Cases were reported in mid 1929, in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and linked to parrots from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where an ongoing outbreak of the disease had led to the cautioning bird owners to declare their sick parrots.
1937
Typhoid Fever / UK
The Croydon typhoid outbreak of 1937 was an outbreak of typhoid fever in Croydon. It resulted in 341 cases of typhoid (43 fatal), and caused considerable local discontent leading to a media campaign and a public inquiry.
1937
1937
Poliomyelitis / Australia
The Australia polio epidemic, death toll unknown