Open dataset · Research
Historical epidemics
A curated timeline of 21 major epidemics and pandemics from the Antonine Plague (165 CE) to the present. Death-toll figures are best-available estimates from WHO, CDC and academic sources; high and low bounds capture uncertainty in older events.
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| Event | Years | Pathogen | Region | Deaths (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonine Plague | 165–180 | Smallpox or measles (suspected) | Roman Empire | 5,000,000–10,000,000 |
| Plague of Cyprian | 249–262 | Unknown (possibly smallpox) | Roman Empire | 1,000,000–2,000,000 |
| Plague of Justinian | 541–549 | Yersinia pestis | Mediterranean, Europe | 25,000,000–100,000,000 |
| Black Death | 1346–1353 | Yersinia pestis | Eurasia, North Africa | 75,000,000–200,000,000 |
| New World smallpox | 1520–1600 | Variola major | Americas | 25,000,000–56,000,000 |
| Italian Plague | 1629–1631 | Yersinia pestis | Northern Italy | 280,000–1,000,000 |
| Great Plague of London | 1665–1666 | Yersinia pestis | England | 75,000–100,000 |
| Marseille Plague | 1720–1722 | Yersinia pestis | France | 50,000–126,000 |
| First Cholera Pandemic | 1817–1824 | Vibrio cholerae | Asia, Middle East | 100,000–1,000,000 |
| Third Plague Pandemic | 1855–1960 | Yersinia pestis | Global (originated China) | 12,000,000–15,000,000 |
| Russian Flu | 1889–1890 | Influenza (likely H3N8 or HCoV-OC43) | Global | 1,000,000 |
| Spanish Flu | 1918–1920 | Influenza A/H1N1 | Global | 17,000,000–100,000,000 |
| Asian Flu | 1957–1958 | Influenza A/H2N2 | Global | 1,100,000–2,000,000 |
| Hong Kong Flu | 1968–1969 | Influenza A/H3N2 | Global | 1,000,000–4,000,000 |
| HIV/AIDS pandemic | 1981– | HIV | Global | 36,000,000–42,000,000 |
| SARS | 2002–2004 | SARS-CoV-1 | Asia, Canada | 774 |
| Swine Flu | 2009–2010 | Influenza A/H1N1pdm09 | Global | 151,000–575,000 |
| West African Ebola | 2013–2016 | Ebolavirus (Zaire) | West Africa | 11,323 |
| MERS | 2012– | MERS-CoV | Middle East, Korea | 858 |
| COVID-19 | 2019–2023 | SARS-CoV-2 | Global | 7,000,000–28,000,000 |
| Mpox outbreak | 2022–2024 | Monkeypox virus (clade IIb) | Global | 200–250 |