Page 17 - All About History - Issue 56-17

Plague of Justinian the Black cocoliztli ePidemic

This outbreak death This mysterious infection, possibly some
of the bubonic form of viral haemorrhagic fever, killed 15
plague killed Still the granddaddy million inhabitants of Mexico. Among a
more than ten per of epidemics, the population
cent of the global Black Death travelled already
population. It from Asia to Europe, weakened
marked the start leaving devastation by extreme
of the Byzantine in its wake. drought,
Empire’s decline Historians estimate the disease
and changes that it wiped out proved
the history over half of to be utterly
of the world. Europe’s population. catastrophic. ‘Cocoliztli’
is the Aztec
word for
541-542 1346-53 1545-48 ‘pest’

gReat Plague of maRseille gReat Plague of london ameRican Plagues

Number The Black Death’s last major outbreak in Great The American Plagues are a cluster
of people Britain causes a of Eurasian diseases brought to
who died mass exodus from America by European explorers.
in two
years London, led by These illnesses, including smallpox,
Charles II. To date, contribute to the collapse of the Incan
2 METRES built around Marseille the Black Death and Aztec civilisations.
Height of quarantine wall
has not made a
significant return
to British shores.
70 CM April 1665, three
Starting in
plague deaths were
reported. In July,
The thickness of the
there were 2,000
solid stone wall
1720 1665-66 16th centuRY

aids Pandemic west afRican eBola ePidemic zika viRus

The Acquired Number of cases The impact of the recent Zika
Immune Deficiency reported in West Africa epidemic in South America won’t
Syndrome (AIDS) be known for several years. In
has claimed 25 the meantime, scientists face a
million lives since it 28,616 race against time to bring the
was first identified. virus under control.
64 per cent of
the estimated The World Health
40 million living 11,310 Organization believes
with Human that as many as
Immunodeficiency Victims of Ebola
Virus (HIV) today ten different can be
nationalities died
live in Sub- 70% transmitted via
Saharan Africa. semen for seven
of cases were unrecorded weeks after a
patient’s
1981-PResent 2014 recovery 2015-PResent

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