Ten plagues causing mass death in human history
The plague of Athens:
From 430 BC to 427 BC, there was a great plague in Athens, nearly half of the population died and the whole Athens was almost destroyed.
Some experts believe that this epidemic is a plague. Symptoms include high fever, thirst, congestion of throat and tongue, swelling of skin, etc.
When the plague occurred, during the Second Peloponnesian War, the Athenians invested a lot of manpower and material resources in military operations, and did not seriously prevent and control the spread of the disease, which led to the tragedy.
"Antony plague" in ancient Rome;
In A.D. 164- 180, Roman soldiers came back from the battlefield and brought smallpox and measles, which infected Anthony's people.
At that time, an average of 2000 people died of illness in Rome every day, even the Roman emperor was not spared. Both Verus the Great and Anthony the Great died of illness.
According to historical records, the symptoms of this infectious disease are: severe diarrhea, vomiting, sore throat, ulceration of hands and feet, high fever, severe thirst and skin suppuration.
The plague lasted for more than ten years, resulting in the loss of nearly 5 million people in Rome and the loss of combat effectiveness of the army, which eventually led to the end of the "golden age" of the Roman Empire.
Jian 'an Great Plague:
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, from the ninth year of Jian 'an to the twenty-fourth year of Jian 'an, the epidemic disaster in the Central Plains was fierce.
Zhang Zhongjing in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in Treatise on Febrile Diseases that "there are more than 200 Yu families, less than ten years after Jian 'an, two thirds of them died, and typhoid fever ranks seventh". Especially in the twenty-two years of Jian 'an (2 17), there were many dead people. Cao Pi, Wei Wendi, recalled: "In the past years, diseases and epidemics affected relatives and friends." He also said: "There are many plagues, and scholars wither." At that time, in the Central Plains, "every family has the pain of burying a corpse, crying in the room, or dying after closing the door, or people who have lost their homes."
Justinian plague:
The first large-scale plague broke out in the Mediterranean world in 54 1-542. It first broke out in Egypt, and then spread to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine Empire, and other areas. In the worst case, tens of thousands of people died in one day.
The plague lasted for half a century, wiped out a quarter of the Roman population, triggered famine and civil strife, and led to the weakening and collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Black Death:
The Black Death is one of the deadliest plagues in human history. Named after the patient's iconic black spot, it is a serious infectious disease with a cure rate of 0.
During the period of 1348- 1350, a total of 25 million Europeans died of the Black Death. Forty years later, the plague broke out again, killing about 75 million people around the world.
American plague:
Some historians call it "the greatest genocide in human history".
/kloc-In the 6th century, there were 4 million to 5 million indigenous people living in America. When Columbus arrived in the New World, so did the germs of Europe. Mumps, measles, smallpox, cholera, gonorrhea, yellow fever and other European infectious diseases have dealt a great blow to Indians, and their immune systems have no resistance to these exotic germs. Infectious diseases spread faster than the colonists.
Milan plague:
1629-163 1 year, a series of plagues broke out in Italy, usually called Milan plague. In all, about 280,000 people died.
At that time, Italy was at war with Germany and France, and the German and French troops brought the epidemic to central and northern Italy. At the beginning of the epidemic, Milan immediately took measures to restrict the entry and exit of soldiers and goods, quarantine and so on.
But in March of 1630, Milan held a carnival, and a large number of people were cross-infected, which eventually led to the death of 60,000 people out of the total population of Milan130,000.
Marseille plague:
1720, a plague broke out in Marseille, France, killing 654.38+10,000 people.
At that time, a Turkish passenger died of sudden illness on a merchant ship bound for Marseille, and his attending doctor and several crew members also died of illness. Merchant ships were quarantined after landing, but some merchants forced the port authority to cancel the quarantine because of the seizure of goods.
A few days later, the plague broke out on a large scale in the urban area. In order to prevent the spread of the plague, France ordered Marseille to be isolated from Provence and other areas. Violators were executed and a plague wall was built, which finally controlled the epidemic.
Spanish flu:
19 18-1920, the global outbreak of influenza A caused 500 million people worldwide to be infected and 50 million to 1 100 million people died. It was named after the serious epidemic in Spain at that time.
The flu killed more people in June than World War I, which indirectly ended World War I, because countries had no extra troops to fight.
Asian flu:
Influenza broke out in China from 65438 to 0957, and spread all over the world within 8 months.
Asian influenza is the H2N2 virus of influenza A, and the influenza vaccine was developed in 1957.
About 1 10,000 people died of the virus in the world, with an incidence rate of 15%-30% and a low mortality rate.