Diseases That Impacted Human History

16 Oct,2023

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Bubonic Plague is a potentially fatal infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Throughout centuries, the disease has erupted several times in different eras, claiming between ten and millions of lives worldwide. 

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Bubonic Plague

Influenza or flu is a contagious respiratory disease caused by variants of Influenza viruses. For more than a century, there have been six major Influenza epidemics. But the 1918 to 1920 flu pandemic, popularly known as "the Great Influenza epidemic" or "the Spanish flu".

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Spanish flu or Influenza

Smallpox, a contagious viral infection caused by the variola virus, has been one of the most widespread causes of human death for centuries. Variola major and variola minor were the two types of Smallpox virus, with variola major being the severe form.

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Smallpox

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio Cholera. The illness is marked byprofuse cramping, vomiting, and watery diarrhoea, leading to rapid dehydration. If left untreated, the symptoms turn so severe that patients usually die within hours. 

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Cholera

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, remains one of the fatal diseases of the 21st century, killing tens of millions since 1981. 

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HIV/AIDS

Ebola is a rare and fatal disease caused by the Ebola filovirus. There are five types of Ebola virus, four of which are known to cause human disease. The Bat is suspected to be the natural reservoir of the virus.

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Ebola

Initially reported in Wuhan in late 2019, the coronavirus illness is caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. The disease quickly spread like wildfire, resulting in a pandemic. As of mid-October 2022, approximately 6.5 million people had died from the COVID -19 pandemic.

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Coronavirus