Statistics for Timeline of Historical Pandemics

Click here to take the quiz!

Name	Time Period	Type / Pre-human host	Death toll	% Correct
Black Death	1347-1351	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	200M	100%
COVID-19	2019-Present	Coronavirus – Unknown (possibly pangolins)	6.3M (Johns Hopkins University estimate as of July 8, 2022)	93%
Ebola	2014-2016	Ebolavirus / Wild animals	11,000	82%
HIV/AIDS	1981-present	Virus / Chimpanzees	25-35M	82%
Spanish Flu	1918-1919	H1N1 virus / Pigs	40-50M	73%
Japanese smallpox epidemic	735-737	Variola major virus	1M	67%
SARS	2002-2003	Coronavirus / Bats, Civets	770	67%
Swine Flu	2009-2010	H1N1 virus / Pigs	200,000	60%
Cholera Pandemics 1-6	1817-1923	V. cholerae bacteria	1M+	51%
MERS	2015-Present	Coronavirus / Bats, camels	850	33%
Plague of Justinian	541-542	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	30-50M	27%
Yellow Fever	Late 1800s	Virus / Mosquitoes	100,000-150,000 (U.S.)	24%
Hong Kong Flu	1968-1970	H3N2 virus	1M	18%
Antonine Plague	165-180	Believed to be either smallpox or measles	5M	16%
Great Plague of London	1665	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	100,000	11%
Asian Flu	1957-1958	H2N2 virus	1.1M	9%
Russian Flu	1889-1890	Believed to be H2N2 (avian origin)	1M	9%
Italian plague	1629-1631	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	1M	7%
New World Smallpox Outbreak	1520 – onwards	Variola major virus	56M	4%
Third Plague	1885	Yersinia pestis bacteria / Rats, fleas	12M (China and India)	4%