The world is facing a tough time with the spread of another disease in the form of coronavirus, but this is not the only time that an infectious disease has broken out and cost lives in the world.
From epidemics that arose in prehistoric times to the pandemics spreading now, there are over 20 infections that have shaken different parts of the world. We take a look at 5 of those infections that have happened in recent times.
DISEASES
1. Ebola (2014-2016): The Ebola virus from 2014 to 2016 was one of the deadliest viral infections that originated in West Africa, it is transmitted to people from animals, and human to human. It affected about 28,600 cases with a reported 11,325 deaths.
2. Swine Flu (2009-2010): The swine flu that broke out in 2009 was a new strain that broke out in Mexico. The virus infected about 1.4 billion people in the world and killed between 151 thousand to 575 thousand people.
3. HIV AIDS (1981- present): This viral disease has claimed about 35 million lives worldwide since it’s spread started. Majority of the people living with the virus presently are though to be in Africa.
4. Asian Flu (1957-1958): This is another pandemic that reportedly originated from China, claiming over one million lives, this was a blend of avian flu viruses. the death toll in the US was recorded at about 116 thousand.
5. Spanish Flu (1918-1920): One of the deadliest diseases in the world broke out during world war 1 and infected about 500 million people, with about 100 million people dying. The world war made it difficult for this flu to be contained, leading to its large death rate.
The coronavirus is presently spreading rapidly, killing over 260 thousand people presently, after infecting over 3.5 million in the world.
