Page 16 - All About History - Issue 56-17

EpidEmics

The Worst Plagues in History

From the Black Plague of athens antonine Plague
Death to smallpox When soldiers returned to the Roman
Number Empire from campaigning, they bought
to the Zika virus, of people
100,000 who died back more
the history of the than the spoils
of victory.
world echoes with This smallpox
epidemic laid
the devastation 1 MASS Skeletons in 8 waste to the
mass grave
left by catastrophic GRAVE Number of army and
killed over
outbreaks of disease Discovered bodies were five million
Roman citizens.
children
in 1994
430 Bce 165-180 ce

flu Pandemic thiRd Pandemic PhiladelPhia Yellow Russian Plague

In the modern industrial age, new This outbreak of bubonic feveR ePidemic In plague-ravaged Moscow, the
transport links made it easy for the flu plague travelled from China to terror of quarantined citizens
to wreak havoc. In just a few months it India, killing tens of millions. In When yellow erupted into violence. Riots
spanned the globe, killing one million. India, the colonial government fever seized spread through the city and
responded with aggressive and Philadelphia, then culminated
harsh quarantine, resulting in America’s capital, in the
political unrest and violence. officials wrongly murder of
believe that slaves Archbishop
It took just were immune. Ambrosius,
ive weeks As a result, who was
for the epidemic abolitionists called encouraging
to reach peak
mortality for people of crowds
African origin to not to
be recruited to gather for
nurse the sick. worship.

1889-90 1855-1959 1793 1770-72

ameRican Polio ePidemic sPanish asian flu

Number flu The Asian Flu pandemic was
diagnosed in another global showing for
27,000 North America 500 million influenza. With its roots in China,
people from the the disease claimed 2 million
South Seas to the
Victims North Pole fell lives. Some researchers believe it
who died owes its existence to avian flu.
in North victim to Spanish
America Flu. One-fifth
of those died,
21,000 Number of New York cats with some
and dogs (wrongly) put down
New York to halt spread of disease* indigenous
children left communities
temporarily or pushed to
permanently
paralysed by the brink
the disease * Polio is only spread through human transmission. of extinction.
1916 1918-19 1957-58

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