This outbreak combined with those in the 14th & 17th Centuries claim 137,000,000
1332
India
Bubonic Plague
Origin of the Pandemic
1346-1348
World Wide
Bubonic Plague
1348-1351
Europe, France, Tunis, Norway, Scotland, Prussia, Iceland & Italy
Bubonic Plague
1485, 1508 & 1517
England
The Sweat
Brought from Rouen by mercenaries recruited to help Henry Tutor. Death occurred within 24 hours.
1520-1527
Mexico
Central America
South America
Smallpox
Kills millions of native inhabitants of Mexico. Introduced at Veracruz with the arrival of Panfilo de Narvaez on April 23, 1520 & was credited with the victory of Cortes over the Aztec empire at Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) in 1521. Kills the Inca ruler, Huayna Capac, & 200,000 others & destroys the Incan Empire.
1540
Southeastern US
"European Epidemic"
Desoto expedition brings to this continent. Killed 75% of the native population
1563
London, England
Bubonic Plague
Worst outbreak ever, killing an estimated quarter to a third of the population. Subsequent outbreaks in 1578, 1593, 1603, 1625, 1636 & 1665, killing thousands. In terms of proportion of the total population destroyed, the 1563 and 1665 epidemics were the worst.
1592-1596
New York
Measles
Kills hundreds possibly thousands of Seneca Indians
1617-1619
North America northern east coast
Smallpox
Killed 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Indians
1633-1634
England
Smallpox
1657
Boston, MA
Measles
1674
Cherokee Tribe
"European Epidemic"
Death count unknown. Population in 1674 about 50,000. After 1729, 1738, & 1753 smallpox epidemics their population was only 25,000 when they were forced to Oklahoma on the Trail Of Tears
1677-1678
Boston, MA
Smallpox
1/5 of the town died
1687
Boston, MA
Measles
1690
New York
Yellow Fever
1692
Boston, MA
Smallpox
1699
Philadelphia, PA, Charleston, SC
Yellow Fever
1702-1703
St. Lawrence Valley, NY
Smallpox
1713
Boston, MA
Measles
1721
Boston, MA
Smallpox
1729
Boston, MA
Measles
1732-1733
World Wide
Influenza
1735-1740
New England
Scarlet Fever & Diphtheria
Hundreds die-mostly children
1736
Pennsylvania
Smallpox
1738
South Carolina
Smallpox
1739-40
Boston, MA
Measles
1747
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania & South Carolina
Measles
1759
North America
Measles
Predominantly found in the white population
1761
North America & West Indies
Influenza
1764
Boston, MA
Scarlet Fever
1770's
West Coast of North America
Smallpox
Kills out 30% of the West Coast Native Americans
1772
North America
Measles
1774-1776
World Wide
Influenza
Extremely severe outbreak
1775
North America
Unknown Epidemic
Especially affects New England
1781-1783
Great Lakes
Smallpox
1783
Dover, DE
Bilious Disorder
"Extremely Fatal"
1787
Maine
Scarlet Fever
1788
Philadelphia, PA & New York
Measles
1792-1799
Charleston, SC
Philadelphia, PA
New Haven, CT
New York NY
Baltimore, MD
Washington DC
Yellow Fever
The outbreak in Philadelphia in the summer of 1793 was the most severe. Ten percent of the population in that city died, about 5,000 people altogether. The new city of Washington DC was under construction at the time, and Philadelphia was the interim capital. Most of the government officials fled the city, including George Washington and the members of his cabinet. Cold weather finally brought an end to the outbreak, in late October.
1793
Vermont
"Putrid Fever" and Influenza
500 dead in 5 counties in 4 weeks
1793
Harrisburg & Middleton, PA
Unknown Epidemic
Many Unexplained Deaths
1793-1794
Philadelphia, PA
Yellow Fever
Over 4,000 dead
1795
New York
Yellow Fever
1796-1798
Philadelphia, PA
Yellow Fever
1803
New York
Yellow Fever
1813
Maury Co., TN
Black Tongue
Several Die
1820
Wisconsin
Measles
Native American Settlements
1820-1823
North America
Fever
1829-1833
Pacific Northwest
Malaria
Kills 150,000 Native Americans
1831-1832
North America
Asiatic Cholera
Brought by English Emigrants
1832-1834
New York City, Columbus, OH & other major cities
Cholera
1837
Philadelphia, PA
Typhus
1841
North America
Yellow Fever
Worse in the South
1847
New Orleans
Yellow Fever
1847-1848
World Wide
Influenza
1848-1849
North America
Cholera
4,000 dead in New York City in 1848
1849
New York City
Cholera
1850
North America
Yellow Fever
1850-1851
North America
Influenza
1851
Coles Co., IL The Great Plains & Missouri
Cholera
1852-1853
North America
Yellow Fever
8,000 dead in New Orleans that summer
1855
North America
Yellow Fever
1857-1859
World Wide
Influenza
Extremely severe outbreak
1860-1861
Pennsylvania
Smallpox
1861-1862
Richmond, VA
Scarlet Fever
1861-1865
Epidemics of dysentery, typhoid fever, hepatitis, malaria, smallpox, measles, and venereal diseases. More than three times as many soldiers died of infectious disease than died of battle wounds.
1861-1865
North America
Typhoid
187,000 dead. This is also period of The Civil War
1862
Florida
Scarlet Fever
1863
New Orleans, LA
Yellow Fever
1865-1873
Philadelphia, PA, New York, Boston, MA & New Orleans, LA
Smallpox
Same period of time, in Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, Memphis, TN Cholera & a series of recurring epidemics of Typhus, Scarlet Fever & Yellow Fever
1873-1875
North America & Europe
Influenza
1873
Nebraska
Diphtheria
1877
Los Angeles, CA
Smallpox
1878
New Orleans, LA & Memphis, TN
Yellow Fever
Last Great Epidemic of Yellow Fever. More than 5,000 fatalities & 25,000 in "crazed flight" in Memphis. 13,000 die in the lower Mississippi Valley
1885
Plymouth, PA
Typhoid
1886
Jacksonville, FL
Yellow Fever
1890-1892
Waterbury, CT & Chicago, IL
Typhoid
1898
Cuba
Yellow Fever
5,000 soldiers die of Yellow Fever during the Spanish American War. Only 968 die in combat.
