Table 1.
Viral pandemic in the 20th and 21st century.
| Disease | Year | Infection | Mortality (Estimated death) | Country badly Affected | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Influenza | 1918−19 | 500 million | 2−3 % (50 million) | Killed > half million people in USA | (CDC, 2020b) |
| Polio | Peak of 1940s & 1950s | 42,173 | 2,720 | US, Canada, UK | (Mehndiratta et al., 2014) |
| Marburg Disease | 1967s | 24 | Up to 88 % | Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda | (World Health Organization (WHO, 2020d) |
| Ebola hemorrhagic disease | 1970s & 1990s | 602 | 431 | Sudan, Yambuku | (Laupland and Valiquette, 2014) |
| HIV | 1980s & 1990s | 3,064 | 1,292 | United States | (Healthline, 2020) |
| Hepatitis | 1996 | 400,000−600,000 | 300 million | US | (CDC, 2020c) |
| Lassa fever | 1969 | 300,000−500,000 per year | 5000 people | West Africa, Sierra Leone, Guinea | (World Health Organization (WHO, 2020a) |
| West Nile Fever | 2002 | 4,156 | 284 | Canada, Mexico, Ontario, Quebec | (Chancey et al., 2015) |
| SARS | 2003 | 8422 | 11 % | China, Hong Kong, Taiwan | (World Health Organization (WHO, 2020b) |
| MERS | 2012 | 2500 | (35 %) 858 | Saudi Arabia | (World Health Organization (WHO, 2020c) |
| COVID-19 | 2019 | 24,182,030 | 825,798 | >210 counties | (Johns Hopkins University (JHU, 2020) |