Throughout history there have been various communicable diseases that have behaved in this way and here are some epidemic examples.
He term epidemic is related to the behavior of a disease in a time and geographical area
Examples of epidemics: the most lethal
1. Mad cow syndrome
This infectious disease was recorded in 1986 in infected cattle.
The first cases in humans occurred 10 years later in Europe and Asiabeing Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, the most affected.
On the other hand, this syndrome is scientifically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathywhich is transmitted through a protein called a prion.
Consequently, they affect nervous cell tissue, attacking neurons, the spinal cord, and nerve endings.
During the demonstration of mad cow syndrome between the 1990s and 2000s, there were more than 200 deaths and a considerable number of infections.
2. Ebola
One of the epidemic diseases that has had a terrible impact within the African continent, is the ebola virus.
This disease is characterized by causing intense bleeding in the body and consequently, death or multi-organ failure.
With respect to the causative agent, it is the Ebola virus, belonging to the family of flaviviridae and group V of the negative single-stranded RNA.
Symptoms of this condition include severe headache and muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting, high fever, and bleeding disorders.
For its part, the first case was detected in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and over time, it has been a headache in Africa.
3. Anger
It is a bacterial infection that affects the digestive system, being a disease transmitted by contaminated or non-potable water.
Likewise, cholera has presented various variants; some being deadlier than their counterparts.
As for the causal agent, it is the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, specifically, the O1 and O139 subtypes.
With allusion to the symptoms they range from abundant diarrhea, the color is white, similar to rice water, intense colic in the abdomen, vomiting and occasionally, fever.
Meanwhile, epidemiology determines that cholera has an endemic behavior, but that it has become an epidemic and pandemic from 1817 to the present.
4. Bird flu
The first cases of bird flu were identified in 1997 in Hong Kong. However, it was in 2003 when there was a massive outbreak of this condition.
The causative agent is the virus influenza type Abelonging to the segmented RNA group and the family Orthomyxoviridae.
Although there are records that mention the first cases in 1878 in northern Italy, it was in the 1955s when the causative agent was identified.
Subsequently, in the 1990s, the first diagnosed cases were in Hong Kong and in 2001, Russia confirmed the first patient within its territory.
However, the influenza A virus has existed and has been around for a long time, but the variants or serotypes H5 and H7 are those that are transmitted from birds.
5. 2009 A H1N1 virus
This causal agent has been responsible for two major pandemics, but we will mention the one caused in 2009 and part of 2010.
Over time it is one of the viruses that has suffered the most mutations, being the cause of the Spanish flu at the end of the first decade of the 20th century.
On the other hand, the 2009 cases were identified in Mexico, the United States, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
The virulence quickly spread across the continent, being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 2009.
The symptoms caused were similar to that of a common flu such as high fever, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, malaise, chills and loss of appetite.
6. Spanish flu
Another variant of influenza A H1N1 virus It was the one that hit much of the world in the late 1910s.
This epidemic, which would later become a pandemic, affected to a great extent, like the First World Warcoincidentally, acting simultaneously.
It had the name ofSpanish Flu’but paradoxically it did not occur in the Iberian country, rather the first cases were reported in the United States.
However, it was named that way because of the diffusion it had in Spain, being addressed in that country during the war.
The symptoms were gradual from high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and a severe picture of dehydration, reaching between 20 to 40 million victims.
7. Asian flu
The next epidemic disease was a serious problem in Asia, specifically, China, Japan, Singapore, India to reach other continents.
On the other hand, the virus that caused the Asian flu was influenza A from H2N2 subtypebelonging to the family Orthomyxoviridae.
In turn, the spread of the virus was very fast, as was the mutation, although it lasted a year, causing more than 1 million deaths.
8. Smallpox
At present, this infectious disease is eradicated, if we can mention that it affected the world population during the centuries before the 20th century.
On the other hand, it was a considerable health problem in the 18th century, when it hit Europe, Asia and Africa.
So much so, that the fatalities only in Europe during that century was more than 400,000 patients.
Another figure that caused despair was the performance of the smallpox within 100 years, killing more than 500 million people around the world.
As for the symptoms, they ranged from high fever, diarrhea, vomiting and the typical pustular lesions that would later become scabs, leaving severe scars on the skin.
9. Black plague
Another of the diseases that hit the world was the Black Death, causing at least the death of 60% of the European population.
This infection had its origin in the outbreak caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium transmitting agent of plague.
The first cases were identified in the fourteenth century in Asia, spreading through Europe, through continental travel.
In turn, this disease was a zoonosisdue to the transmission of rats, being a transmitting source of the pathology.
10. Hong Kong flu
This epidemic condition occurred in Hong Kong in 1968, killing 4 million people.
Regarding the causative agent, it was again the influenza in his AH3N2 variant and mutated to H2N2.
For its part, it affected mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Cambodia.
As for the symptoms, they are the same as those of their counterparts, the cause of other pandemics.