As the number of epidemics rises, we decided to take a look at the biggest epidemics throughout the history.
One of them that runs for the last 35 years is HIV. While scientists are looking every day to find a cure, the number of contagious rises. The first case of this virus appeared in 1920 in Kinshasa from where it started spreading over whole Africa and then to other continents as well. The real epidemic started 60 years ago, on June 5th, 1980 and until today, there were between 29,6 and 40,8 victims of this illness who died. Science still didn’t get the solution to resolve this problem, but at least, they found some ways to help people contained with HIV to live longer with this disease in their system. The real cause of the first recorded case of the HIV was never revealed.
And have you ever noticed how many parents are scared to death after they notice their child has chickenpox? As common as this let’s call it a disease is nowadays, many parents give their children injections to prevent them from getting chickenpox as the consequences can be brutal. On the other hand, some parents bring their children on purpose near the child that is contagious as it is said to be easier for them to have them while they are still young. Speaking of it, have you ever hear about Smallpox epidemic that took away between 5 and 8 million lifes’ in Mexico between 1520 and 1520? When Herman Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519 with the goal to conquer the Aztec empire, besides killing and raping, he and his soldiers gave Aztecs a virus of Smallpox to which they weren’t immune to. In that moment, they could stop the attack since the disease killed more people that Cortes and his crew.
If you are interested to read more about this subject, move on to Insider Monkey’s list of 11 biggest epidemics in human history.
