Before the deadly coronavirus has started threatening the worldwide population this year, a series of other global pandemics have ravaged the entire world. Here is a list of the most dangerous stories in history, as Fox News elegantly reported.
Top 3 Global Pandemics That Were Worse Than the Coronavirus Outbreak
AIDS
The pandemic that caused Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, known as the HIV pandemic, has started in 2005 and ended in 2012, causing the death of 36 million people. The virus was transmitted to humans from a chimpanzee in 1920 and had reached America in the late ’80s. Other reports are showing that the virus was probably present in New York City at the beginning of 1970, and it came from Haiti.
French scientists isolated the virus and identified AIDS as a disease caused by HIV. While the officials from the World Health Organization are stating that HIV is a regional outbreak, the officials from the CDC described it as a worldwide pandemic.
The Spanish Flu
Back in 1918, the Spanish Flu pandemic is the most recent disease that humanity has faced. The virus infected one-third of the worldwide population, and it even killed 50 million people. More than 100 years later, the researchers are still unable to identify what caused such an extensive death rate of this virus, and at that time, they could not provide any medication to stop its spreading.
The measures taken by the governments represented quarantine and social distancing, as well as the implementation of ordinances, which forced people to wear masks. It is believed that the virus appeared two years earlier in a British army hospital and was transmitted from birds to humans.
The Black Death
Like the new coronavirus, Black Death emerged in Asia, according to some scientists and scholars of those times. This is the worst of the all global pandemics that hit the world since it has caused the death of up to 200 million people. It took place between 1347 and 1353 AD, and it still threatens the Earth, to some extent.
Scientists believe that the Black Death was due to a bacterium known as Yersinia Pestis. Allegedly, the disease transferred to humans from rodents due to the adversities that people started to feel against cats. At those times, cats were considered as the symbol of the Devil and in partnership with witches.
The New Coronavirus Outbreak
Although the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not as deadly as the other viruses presented above, it is puzzling the health care units with its symptoms and its weird spreading ways. And that because, at the moment, it has no cure or vaccine because it’s new in the world. Accordingly, follow the authorities’ instructions, stay at home, protect yourself against COVID-19, and keep your family and yourself safe!
In short, AIDS, Spanish Flu, and The Black Death represented global pandemics that were worse than the new coronavirus outbreak. But, without social distancing and minimal hygiene measures, COVID-19 might reach those levels, too.
