Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - What are the top ten plagues in human history? Which plague killed the most people?

What are the top ten plagues in human history? Which plague killed the most people?

We always pay attention to war. In fact, the most terrible plagues in human history are those crazy plagues, especially in ancient times and underdeveloped modern times, which are the biggest killers of the sharp decline in population. The top ten most horrible plagues in human history are as follows, in no particular order.

The first is the Black Death.

1The 1940s and 1950s were extremely tragic times in Europe. From 1347 to 1353, what's the name that swept across Europe? Black Death? The Great Plague claimed the lives of 25 million Europeans, accounting for 1/3 of the total population of Europe at that time. This plague is recorded in many documents as? Black Death? .

Italy and France suffered the most in this great plague; However, a few countries, such as Poland and Belgium, were lucky enough to escape the whole net. Among these cities, Florence, Boccaccio's hometown, suffered the most: 80% people died of the Black Death. In decameron written by Boccaccio, Florence suddenly became a hell on earth: pedestrians suddenly fell to the ground and died while walking in the street; People who stay at home die alone until they smell the body odor; Every day, a large number of bodies are transported outside the city every hour; Cows wandered in the streets of the city, but no one saw them.

Second, smallpox.

Smallpox is one of the oldest infectious diseases with the highest mortality. Highly contagious and seriously ill. People who have never suffered from smallpox or have not been vaccinated against smallpox can be infected, mainly manifested in severe viremia and high mortality after infection.

/kloc-around 0/507, smallpox was brought to the United States by a sick black slave and has been raging in the United States ever since. Indians in the New World have been isolated from humans in the Old World for tens of thousands of years. They lack immunity to smallpox, measles, diphtheria, typhoid fever, mumps, influenza and other diseases, and they also lack epidemic prevention knowledge. They soon fell in droves.

Colonists soon realized that smallpox was a powerful weapon, and many documents recorded the shameful behavior of colonists who deliberately spread smallpox to Indians. For example, when the British could not advance in Canada, they made peace with the Indians and gave them pillows and quilts contaminated by smallpox patients as gifts. Subsequently, mumps, measles, cholera, gonorrhea and yellow fever from Europe followed.

Under the influence of smallpox virus and colonial massacre, the indigenous population in America has decreased by tens of millions or even nearly 1 billion, which is an unprecedented genocide in human history.

Third, yellow fever.

Yellow fever is an acute infectious disease caused by yellow fever virus, which is mainly transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. Yellow fever has a high mortality and strong infectivity, and it is a fatal infectious disease in the era of underdeveloped medical care.

1648, yellow fever first hit the three islands of St. Kitts, Barbados and Martinique in the Caribbean, as far away as Cuba and Yucatan Peninsula, and leveled many villages and towns through unsuspecting crowds. Yellow fever caused a greater disaster in the Mississippi valley of 1878, with more than 120000 people infected and at least 20000 people killed. 1937 south American microbiologist Max? Taylor got the yellow fever vaccine and won the Nobel Prize for it. The death toll from cholera is incalculable. In India alone, 38 million people died in 100, while in Europe, 900,000 people died in 183 1 year.

Four, Justinian plague

Justinian plague refers to the first large-scale plague that broke out in the Mediterranean world from 54 1 to 542, which caused extremely serious losses. Plague destroyed the Byzantine Empire to a great extent, and its extremely high mortality rate caused the population of Byzantine Empire to drop obviously, the labor force and army to drop sharply, the normal living order was seriously destroyed, and it also had far-reaching social negative consequences, which also had a far-reaching impact on the historical development of Byzantine Empire, the Mediterranean and Europe.

The plague had a devastating effect on the imperial army. Before the plague broke out, Justinian had a huge army of about 650 thousand people (including auxiliary soldiers) Due to the sharp drop in population, when Justinian died, the army on the eastern border was less than 6,543,800+0.5 million (including auxiliary soldiers). In the past, the number of imperial troops usually remained between 25,000 and 30,000. But by the beginning of the 7th century, it was difficult to send more than 10,000 troops.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) cholera