Death toll (estimate) |
Location |
Date |
Comment |
Disease |
Reference |
ca. 75,000 - 100,000 |
Greece |
0541 !429–426 BC |
Known as Plague of Athens, because it was primarily in Athens. |
unknown, similar to typhoid |
|
ca. 30% of population |
Europe, Western Asia, Northern Africa |
0541 !165–180 |
Known as Antonine Plague, due to the name of the Roman emperor in power at the time. |
unknown, symptoms similar to smallpox |
|
|
Europe |
250-266 AD |
Know as the Plague of Cyprian named after St. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage. |
unknown, possibly smallpox |
|
ca. 40% of population |
Europe |
0541 !541–542 |
Known as Plague of Justinian, due to the name of the Byzantine emperor in power at the time. |
Bubonic plague |
[1] |
30% to 70% of population |
Europe |
1346–1350 |
Known as "Black Death" or Second plague pandemic, first return of the plague to Europe after the Justinianic plague of the 6th century. |
plague |
[2] |
5-15 million (80% of population) |
Mexico |
1545-1548 |
Cocoliztli |
viral hemorrhagic fever |
[3][4][5] |
2 - 2.5 million (50% of population) |
Mexico |
1576 |
Cocoliztli epidemic of 1576 |
viral hemorrhagic fever |
[3][5][6] |
|
Seneca nation |
1592–1596 |
|
measles |
[7] |
|
Spain |
1596–1602 |
|
plague |
[8] |
|
South America |
1600–1650 |
|
malaria |
|
|
England |
1603 |
London |
plague |
|
|
Egypt |
1609 |
|
plague |
|
30% to 90% of population |
Southern New England, especially the Wampanoag people |
1616–1619 |
|
Unknown cause. Latest research suggests epidemic(s) of leptospirosis with Weil syndrome. Classic explanations include yellow fever, bubonic plague, influenza, smallpox, chickenpox, typhus, and syndemic infection of hepatitis B and hepatitis D. |
,[9][10] |
280,000 |
Italy |
1629–1631 |
Italian plague of 1629–1631 |
plague |
|
|
Wyandot people |
1630 |
in Ontario |
smallpox |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1633 |
Plymouth Colony |
smallpox |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1634 |
Connecticut River area |
smallpox |
|
|
England |
1636 |
Newcastle |
plague |
|
|
China |
1641–1644 |
helped end the Ming Dynasty |
plague |
[11] |
|
Spain |
1647–1652 |
Great Plague of Seville |
plague |
|
|
South America |
1648 |
|
yellow fever |
|
|
Italy |
1656 |
Naples |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1657 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
measles |
|
24,148[12] |
Netherlands |
1663–1664 |
Amsterdam |
plague |
|
100,000[13] |
England |
1665–1666 |
Great Plague of London |
plague |
|
40,000 |
France |
1668 |
|
plague |
|
|
Spain |
1676–1685 |
|
plague |
|
76,000 |
Austria |
1679 |
Great Plague of Vienna |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1687 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
measles |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1690 |
New York City |
yellow fever |
|
|
Canada, New France |
1702–1703 |
|
smallpox |
[14] |
|
Sweden |
1710–1711 |
Stockholm |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1713 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
measles |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1713–1715 |
New England and the Great Lakes |
measles |
|
|
Canada, New France |
1714–1715 |
|
measles |
[15] |
|
France |
1720–1722 |
Great Plague of Marseille |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1721–1722 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
smallpox |
[16] |
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1729 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
measles |
|
|
Spain |
1730 |
Cadiz |
yellow fever |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1732–1733 |
|
influenza |
[17] |
|
Canada, New France |
1733 |
|
smallpox |
[18] |
>50,000 |
Balkans |
1738 |
Great Plague of 1738 |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1738 |
South Carolina |
smallpox |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1739–1740 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
measles |
|
|
Italy |
1743 |
Messina |
plague |
|
|
Thirteen Colonies |
1747 |
CT, NY, PA, SC |
measles |
|
|
North America |
1755–1756 |
|
smallpox |
|
|
North America |
1759 |
|
measles |
|
|
North America, West Indies |
1761 |
|
influenza |
|
>50,000 |
Russia |
1770–1772 |
Russian plague of 1770–1772 |
plague |
|
|
Pacific Northwest natives |
1770s |
|
smallpox |
[19] |
|
North America |
1772 |
|
measles |
|
|
North America |
1775 |
particularly in the northeast |
unknown cause |
|
|
England |
1775–1776 |
|
influenza |
[20] |
|
Spain |
1778 |
Cadiz |
dengue fever |
|
|
Plains Indians |
1780–1782 |
North American smallpox epidemic |
smallpox |
[21] |
|
Pueblo Indians |
1788 |
|
smallpox |
|
|
United States |
1788 |
Philadelphia and New York |
measles |
|
|
New South Wales, Australia |
1789–1790 |
amongst the Aborigines |
smallpox |
[22] |
|
United States |
1793 |
Vermont |
influenza and epidemic typhus |
|
|
United States |
1793 |
Virginia |
influenza |
|
|
United States |
1793–1798 |
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, resurgences |
yellow fever |
[23] |
|
Spain |
1800–1803 |
|
yellow fever |
[24] |
|
Ottoman Empire, Egypt |
1801 |
|
bubonic plague |
[25] |
|
United States |
1803 |
New York |
yellow fever |
|
|
Egypt |
1812 |
|
plague |
|
|
Ottoman Empire |
1812 |
Istanbul |
plague |
|
|
Malta |
1813 |
|
plague |
|
|
Romania |
1813 |
Bucharest |
plague |
|
|
Ireland |
1816–1819 |
|
typhus |
|
>>100,000 |
Asia, Europe |
1816–1826 |
first cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
|
United States |
1820–1823 |
arising near Schuylkill River |
fever |
|
|
Spain |
1821 |
Barcelona |
yellow fever |
[27] |
|
New South Wales, Australia |
1828 |
amongst the Aborigines |
smallpox |
[28] |
|
Netherlands |
1829 |
Groningen epidemic |
malaria |
|
|
South Australia |
1829 |
|
smallpox |
[29] |
|
Iran |
1829–1835 |
|
bubonic plague |
[30] |
>>100,000 |
Asia, Europe, North America |
1829–1851 |
second cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
|
Egypt |
1831 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
|
Plains Indians |
1831–1834 |
|
smallpox |
|
|
England, France |
1832 |
London, Paris |
cholera |
|
|
North America |
1832 |
New York City, Montreal other cities |
cholera |
|
|
United States |
1833 |
Columbus, Ohio |
cholera |
|
|
United States |
1834 |
New York City |
cholera |
|
|
Egypt |
1834–1836 |
|
bubonic plague |
[31][32] |
|
United States |
1837 |
Philadelphia |
typhus |
|
|
Great Plains |
1837–1838 |
1837-38 smallpox epidemic |
smallpox |
|
|
Dalmatia |
1840 |
|
plague |
|
|
South Africa |
1840 |
Cape Town |
smallpox |
|
|
United States |
1841 |
especially severe in the South |
yellow fever |
|
20,000+ |
Canada |
1847–1848 |
Typhus epidemic of 1847 |
epidemic typhus |
[33] |
|
United States |
1847 |
New Orleans |
yellow fever |
|
|
worldwide |
1847–1848 |
|
influenza |
[34] |
|
Egypt |
1848 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
|
North America |
1848–1849 |
|
cholera |
|
|
United States |
1850 |
|
yellow fever |
|
|
North America |
1850–1851 |
|
influenza |
|
|
United States |
1851 |
Illinois, the Great Plains, and Missouri |
cholera |
|
|
United States |
1852 |
New Orleans |
yellow fever |
|
1,000,000 |
Russia |
1852–1860 |
third cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
|
Ottoman Empire |
1853 |
what is now Yemen |
plague |
[35] |
4,737 |
Copenhagen, Denmark |
1853 |
Cholera epidemic of Copenhagen 1853 |
cholera |
[36] |
616 |
England |
1854 |
Broad Street cholera outbreak |
cholera |
[37] |
|
United States |
1855 |
|
yellow fever |
|
|
worldwide |
1855–1950 |
Third plague pandemic |
bubonic plague |
[38] |
|
Portugal |
1857 |
Lisbon |
yellow fever |
|
|
Victoria, Australia |
1857 |
|
smallpox |
[39] |
|
Europe, North America, South America |
1857–1859 |
|
influenza |
[40] |
|
Middle East |
1863–1879 |
fourth cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
|
Egypt |
1865 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
|
Russia, Germany |
1866–1867 |
|
cholera |
|
|
Australia |
1867 |
Sydney |
measles |
|
|
Iraq |
1867 |
|
plague |
[41] |
|
Argentina |
1852–1871 |
Buenos Aires |
yellow fever |
[42] |
|
Germany |
1870–1871 |
|
smallpox |
|
40,000 |
Fiji |
1875 |
Fiji |
measles |
[43] |
|
Russian Empire |
1877 |
Baku, now part of Azerbaijan |
plague |
[44] |
|
Egypt |
1881 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
>>9,000 |
India, Germany |
1881–1896 |
fifth cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
3,164 |
Montreal |
1885 |
|
smallpox |
timeline |
1,000,000 |
worldwide |
1889–1890 |
1889–1890 flu pandemic |
influenza |
[45] |
|
Congo Basin |
1896–1906 |
|
trypanosomiasis |
[46] |
>>800,000 |
Europe, Asia, Africa |
1899–1923 |
sixth cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
113 |
San Francisco |
1900–1904 |
Third plague pandemic |
bubonic plague |
[47] |
|
West Africa |
1900 |
|
yellow fever |
|
|
Uganda |
1900–1920 |
|
trypanosomiasis |
[48] |
|
Egypt |
1902 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
|
India |
1903 |
|
plague |
[49] |
40,000 |
China |
1910–1912 |
Harbin, Shenyang |
bubonic plague |
[50] |
75,000,000 |
worldwide |
1918–1920 |
1918 flu pandemic |
influenza |
[51] |
|
Russia |
1918–1922 |
|
typhus |
|
|
Egypt |
1942–1944 |
|
malaria |
[31][32] |
|
China |
1946 |
Harbin |
bubonic plague |
|
|
Egypt |
1946 |
|
relapsing fever |
[31][32] |
|
Egypt |
1947 |
|
cholera |
[31][32] |
2,000,000 |
worldwide |
1957–1958 |
Asian flu |
influenza |
[52] |
|
worldwide |
1961–present |
seventh cholera pandemic |
cholera |
[26] |
1,000,000 |
worldwide |
1968–1969 |
Hong Kong flu |
influenza |
[52] |
5 |
Netherlands |
1971 |
Staphorst, Elspeet and Uddel |
Poliomyelitis |
[53] |
35 |
Yugoslavia |
1972 |
1972 outbreak of smallpox in Yugoslavia |
smallpox |
|
|
United States |
1972–1973 |
London flu |
influenza |
[54] |
15,000 |
India |
1974 |
1974 smallpox epidemic of India |
smallpox |
|
>30,000,000 |
Congo Basin |
1960–present |
HIV/AIDS pandemic |
HIV/AIDS |
[55] |
|
South America |
1990s |
|
cholera |
|
52 |
India |
1994 |
1994 plague epidemic in Surat |
plague |
|
|
West Africa |
1996 |
|
meningitis |
|
|
Central America |
2000 |
|
dengue fever |
[56] |
|
Nigeria |
2001 |
|
cholera |
[57] |
|
South Africa |
2001 |
|
cholera |
[58] |
775 |
Asia |
2002–2003 |
SARS |
SARS coronavirus |
|
|
Algeria |
2003 |
|
plague |
[59] |
|
Afghanistan |
2004 |
|
leishmaniasis |
[60] |
|
Bangladesh |
2004 |
|
cholera |
[61] |
|
Indonesia |
2004 |
|
dengue fever |
|
|
Senegal |
2004 |
|
cholera |
[62] |
|
Sudan |
2004 |
|
Ebola |
|
|
Mali |
2005 |
|
yellow fever |
[63] |
19 |
Singapore |
2005 |
2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore |
dengue fever |
|
|
Angola |
2006 |
Luanda |
cholera |
[64] |
|
Congo |
2006 |
Ituri Province |
plague |
|
|
India |
2006 |
|
malaria |
[65] |
50+ |
India |
2006 |
2006 dengue outbreak in India |
dengue fever |
[66] |
|
India |
2006 |
Chikungunya outbreaks |
Chikungunya virus |
[67] |
50+ |
Pakistan |
2006 |
2006 dengue outbreak in Pakistan |
dengue fever |
|
|
Philippines |
2006 |
|
dengue fever |
|
|
Congo |
2007 |
Mweka |
Ebola |
[68] |
|
Ethiopia |
2007 |
|
cholera |
[69] |
49 |
India |
2008 |
|
cholera |
[70] |
10 |
Iraq |
2007 |
2007 Iraq cholera outbreak |
cholera |
[71] |
|
Nigeria |
2007 |
|
Poliomyelitis |
[72] |
|
Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico |
2007 |
|
dengue fever |
[73] |
|
Somalia |
2007 |
|
cholera |
[74] |
|
Uganda |
2007 |
|
Ebola |
|
|
Vietnam |
2007 |
|
cholera |
[75] |
|
Brazil |
2008 |
|
dengue fever |
|
|
Cambodia |
2008 |
|
dengue fever |
[76] |
|
Chad |
2008 |
|
cholera |
[77] |
|
China |
2008 |
|
hand, foot and mouth disease |
|
|
Madagascar |
2008 |
|
bubonic plague |
[78] |
|
Philippines |
2008 |
|
dengue fever |
[79] |
|
Vietnam |
2008 |
|
cholera |
[80] |
4,293 |
Zimbabwe |
2008–2009 |
2008–2009 Zimbabwean cholera outbreak |
cholera |
|
18 |
Bolivia |
2009 |
2009 Bolivian dengue fever epidemic |
dengue fever |
|
49 |
India |
2009 |
2009 Gujarat hepatitis outbreak |
hepatitis B |
|
|
Queensland, Australia |
2009 |
|
dengue fever |
[81] |
|
worldwide |
2009 |
Mumps outbreaks in the 2000s |
mumps |
|
931 |
West Africa |
2009–2010 |
2009-2010 West African meningitis outbreak |
meningitis |
[82] |
14,286 |
worldwide |
2009 |
2009 flu pandemic |
influenza |
[83][84] |
8,500+ (March 2014) |
Hispaniola |
2010–present |
Haiti cholera outbreak |
cholera |
[85][86] |
4,500+ (February 2014) |
Congo |
2011–present |
|
measles |
[87][88] |
170 |
Vietnam |
2011–present |
|
hand, foot and mouth disease |
[89][90] |
350+ |
Pakistan |
2011–present |
2011 dengue outbreak in Pakistan |
dengue fever | |
847 (As of 10 January 2013) |
Darfur Sudan |
2012 |
2012 yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, Sudan |
yellow fever |
[91] |
449 (As of 11 June 2015) |
Worldwide |
2012–present |
2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak |
Middle East respiratory syndrome |
[92] |
11,300 |
Worldwide |
2013–2016 |
Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa |
Ebola virus disease |
[93] |
183 |
Americas |
2013–2015 |
2013–14 chikungunya outbreak |
Chikungunya |
[94] |
40 |
Madagascar |
2014–present |
2014 Madagascar plague outbreak |
Bubonic plague | |
36 |
India |
2014–present |
2014 Odisha jaundice outbreak |
primarily Hepatitis E, but also Hepatitis A |
[95] |
2,035 |
India |
2015–present |
2015 Indian swine flu outbreak |
Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 |
[96][97][98] |
|
Americas |
2015–present |
Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present) |
Zika virus | |