A list of deadly plagues in human history Athens plague A disease almost destroyed the whole of Athens more than 2,400 years ago. For more than a year, the citizens of Athens have lived in a nightmare. The strong young people around him suddenly had a high fever, and their throats and tongues were congested, giving off an unusually unpleasant smell. Unfortunately, the patient sneezed, his voice was hoarse, and he had chest pain because of a severe cough. A doctor found that fire could prevent epidemics, thus saving Athens. Influenza as early as 4 12 BC in ancient Greece, Hippocrates had described diseases similar to influenza. 19th century, Hirsch, a German medical geographer, made a detailed list of influenza-like outbreaks since 1 173. The first epidemic apparently caused by influenza occurred in Britain in 15 10. Later, 1580, 1675, 1733, there were cases in which influenza caused a large-scale epidemic. The earliest detailed description of the epidemic influenza was in 1580. Since then, the literature has recorded 3 1 influenza pandemics. Among them, from 1742 to 1743, the epidemic caused by influenza once involved 90% eastern Europeans, and from 1889 to 1894, "Russian influenza" swept through western Europe, with a wide range of incidence and high mortality, causing serious impact. The first plague epidemic in the history of plague occurred in the 6th century A.D., originated in the Middle East, and its epidemic center was on the Mediterranean coast of the Near East. In 542 AD, it passed through Port Said in southern Egypt and spread to North Africa and Europe along the land and sea trade routes, affecting almost all famous countries at that time. The epidemic lasted for 50 or 60 years, with 10,000 people dying every day, and the death toll in the extreme epidemic period was close to 100 million. This epidemic led to the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire. The second epidemic occurred in the14th century with different origins. The epidemic lasted for nearly 300 years, spreading all over Eurasia and the north coast of Africa, especially in Europe. By August of 1665, 2,000 people died every week, and 8,000 people died a month later. It was not until a few months later that a big fire (known as the "London Fire" in history) destroyed most buildings in London, and the rats disappeared, and the plague epidemic subsided. This epidemic and plague is the one known as the "Black Death" in history. The face of rabies virus is clearly presented to people with a history of only over a hundred years, but a clear record of its pathogenicity existed as early as 400 years ago. As early as 1566, there have been cases of rabies biting, but until 1885, people still don't know what causes rabies. In the era when bacterial theory is dominant, the experiment of the famous French scientist Pasteur (1822- 1895) opened up a new road for the prevention and treatment of rabies. Pasteur found from practice that dogs can resist rabies virus infection with normal intensity by injecting rabies medulla oblongata extract containing pathogens into rabbits for many times and then injecting these liquids with decreasing toxicity into dogs. The second epidemic of tuberculosis (from the end of 19 to the beginning of the 20th century) According to the data, since the discovery of tuberculosis in 1882, the death toll of tuberculosis has reached 200 million. Today, the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis is mentioned again, because the latest data show that the global death toll of tuberculosis patients has increased from 2.5 million in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2000. 75% of TB deaths occur in the most productive age group (15 to 45 years old), and 2 billion people around the world have been infected with TB, with an annual infection rate of 1%, that is, about 65 million people are infected with TB every year. The third plague epidemic began at the end of 19 (1894). It broke out suddenly and reached its peak in the 1930s. It spread to more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa, and the death toll exceeded10 million. The epidemic spread quickly and widely, far ahead of the two pandemics. At present, this plague has almost disappeared in North America, Europe and other places. However, in some parts of Asia and Africa, human and mouse diseases still occur from time to time. Influenza 19 18, a deadly flu swept the world, killing 20 million to 50 million people. Although the flu is called "Spanish lady" in the United States, it seems that it first originated in the United States, and it may have spread from pigs. That year, nearly 65,438+0/4 Americans got the flu, which killed more than 500,000 people, almost half of whom were healthy young people. Although the usual flu is not so deadly, it also causes more than 1 10000 hospitalizations and 34000 deaths in the United States every year. As an infectious disease caused by virus, influenza has no specific medicine and can be prevented by injecting influenza vaccine. The effective rate is 70% to 90%. Because influenza viruses are very variable, the types of influenza viruses that are popular every year are different, and they must be vaccinated every year to play a role. Smallpox was first prevalent only in the "old world" (Asia, Europe and Africa). In17th and18th centuries, it was the most serious infectious disease in the west, but its influence in history was not as good as that of plague, which may be because its victims were mainly children (about110 children died of smallpox). Smallpox is caused by smallpox virus and there is no cure. 1980, the World Health Assembly officially announced that smallpox was completely eliminated and smallpox virus no longer existed in nature. The Third Epidemic Plague (from the middle of 20th century to the beginning of 20th century +265438) There have been more than three influenza pandemics in the world, namely 1957 "Asian Influenza" caused by influenza A virus (H2N2), 1968 and "Hong Kong Influenza" caused by influenza A virus (H3N2) in 656. During the outbreaks of 1957 "Asian Influenza" and 1968 "Hong Kong Influenza", all age groups were susceptible to infection, and the mortality rate increased, especially for the elderly over 65 years old. People with high risk factors (such as heart and lung diseases) also have a high mortality rate, and both kinds of influenza have spread to many parts of the world. Statistics released by the United States show that during the 1957 "Asian Influenza" epidemic, 70,000 people died in the United States. 1968 During the "Hong Kong Influenza" epidemic, 34,000 people were infected and died in the United States. 1977, 1 1 to 1978, 1 prevailed in the Soviet Union. 1978 65438+ 10, "Russian flu" began to break out among American students and recruits. By the winter of 1978, infectious diseases had also appeared in many other countries. Dengue fever Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease caused by dengue virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The word Gordon comes from Spanish, meaning putting on airs. It means that patients with dengue fever walk like postures because of joint and muscle pain. Dengue fever is an ancient disease. In the 20th century, many epidemics occurred all over the world, with millions of patients. Dengue fever has become the most important tropical infectious disease after 1998 malaria. There is a local epidemic trend in Southeast Asia, and it also occurs to varying degrees in the southeast coastal areas of China and southern provinces. West Nile virus In the summer of 2002, West Nile virus broke out again in the United States. During the four years from 1999 to 2002, this mosquito-borne disease claimed dozens of lives and infected more than 100 people. West Nile virus was isolated from a woman in West Nile District of Uganda on 1937, and has appeared in temperate regions of Europe and North America in recent years. Experts believe that among every 200 people infected with West Nile virus, only 1 person may cause fatal diseases, but for the elderly, patients with chronic diseases and other people with weak immune systems, infection may cause encephalitis until death. AIDS AIDS is the abbreviation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV is a lifelong infection, which destroys people's immune system and makes people lose their ability to resist various diseases. In June, 198 1, the US Centers for Disease Control reported five such cases for the first time, all of which were homosexuals. Subsequently, patients with similar symptoms were found in the United States and other countries, and then spread widely around the world. On June 5438+1October 65438+April, 2000, Ebola virus broke out in Gulu, northern Uganda. At present, 5 1 person has been infected, of which 3 1 person died. Ebola is the first time in Uganda. The disease is transmitted by Ebola virus through physical contact. People infected with the virus will have high fever, severe muscle pain, nasal, oral and anal bleeding symptoms, and may die within 24 hours. It is reported that Uganda's neighboring Sudan and Congo (DRC) had Ebola outbreaks in 1970s and 1995 respectively, and many people died.