The pneumonia that originated in East Asia has so far claimed 80 victims, and another 2,272 patients worldwide.
The pneumonia that originated in East Asia has so far claimed 80 victims, and another 2,272 patients worldwide. At this stage it is difficult to define it as a deadly epidemic, in view of the largest epidemics in history (according to the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA):
* Smallpox: in the years 1315-1347, about 25 million people died in Europe from the epidemic. Researchers believe that the disease originated in China, from where it was spread by rats carrying fleas. The World Health Organization stated that in 1999 the disease was discovered in 14 different countries, with 2,603 patients and 212 deaths.
* Cholera: The epidemic began in 1826 and reached most parts of the world, when steamships contributed to its spread. Tens of thousands died from the disease.
In 1961 the epidemic broke out again in Indonesia, quickly spread to Asia and Europe and in 1991 it also reached South America. Within a year, 400 cases of patients were registered in the Americas, of which 4,000 died
* Influenza: In the 20th century, the disease killed millions, and also caused damage to the world economy.
The "Spanish Flu" pandemic took place in 1918 and killed 50-40 million people worldwide. Many of the victims of the disease were 30-20 years old and the economy in the years after World War I was significantly damaged.
The "Asian flu" and the "Hong Kong flu" caused the death of 1957 million people in 1956-1968 and 1967-4.5.
Influenza type A began to affect humans in 1997, after for years experts believed that it only affects birds. To prevent its spread, the Hong Kong authorities destroyed more than a million chickens. A total of 18 people fell ill with the flu, of which six died.
* Diseases in the 21st century: According to the World Health Organization's Infectious Diseases Report, in 2001 approximately 14.7 million people worldwide died from such diseases - 26% of all deaths that year. The most deadly diseases are respiratory infections, which killed 3.9 million people; AIDS, with 2.9 million deaths; diseases that cause diarrhea (1.6 million); and malaria (1.1 million). The organization warned against tuberculosis, malaria, cholera and fever.
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The report states that "the return of tuberculosis as a worldwide threat and the appearance of new forms of the disease, resistant to drugs, have increased the threat by hundreds of percent." It is written about malaria that "soon there will be resistance to the most modern drugs available in the world today".
