Pandemics have plagued human societies since the dawn of history. Let’s explore four notorious pandemics of the past that changed the course of history.
Diseases have been a part of everyday life from the beginning of time and, as we are learning from hard experience, that’s not going to change any time soon. While we have both written accounts and physical evidence of their dire effects on human societies, the causes of some illnesses remain a mystery to this day. For example, in the year 250 C.E. the Plague of Cyprian killed an estimated 5,000 people per day in Rome alone. The cause? Unknown. Fortunately, though, not every case is a mystery, and the pandemics of the past can teach us a lot about the diseases of the future. Let’s take a look at four of them.
1. The Plague of Athens (435-430 B.C.E.)
During the Peloponnesian War, an infectious disease of uncertain origin reached Athens, then spread across parts of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. The Plague of Athens, which is actually believed to have begun in sub-Saharan Africa, killed nearly 100,000 people – approximately one-third of the city-state’s population at time – and was likely the most lethal epidemic in the history of Classical Greece.
The Greek historian Thucydides wrote, “people in good health were all of a sudden attacked by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitting an unnatural and fetid breath.” Fortunately, Thucydides recorded the outbreak in his History of the Peloponnesian War, and meticulously identified the symptoms and experiences of those afflicted (including himself).
Plague in an Ancient City by Michiel Sweerts, c. 1650 (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
While the disease that caused the plague is still unknown, contextual clues like the ones Thucydides passed down to us suggest that this epidemic may have been caused by typhoid fever or an Ebola-like disease. What isn’t disputed, though, is the extent to which it shaped history. During the outbreak, the Athenian general and statesman, Pericles, was killed by the disease, and with him, the Athenian democracy. The weakness the plague created led to the eventual defeat of Athens, affecting both the war and life in ancient Greece and, in turn, altering world history.
2. Yersinia Pestis – “The Plague”
Chances are, we’ve all heard of this dread disease, or at least have heard the satirical “Bring out your dead” chant from the 1975 cult classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Think of any medieval scene, and you’ll probably picture “the Plague”: that pesky disease carried by rats and fleas caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria. But the aptly-named pandemic didn’t just strike once, and may have existed in more forms than you may have thought.
There are three types of plague: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Both the bubonic and septicemic forms result from contact with infected fleas or animals. The deadliest of the three, the pneumonic strain, is the only form that can be spread among people directly.
The first known appearance of plague occurred from 541 to 542 C.E., when the Plague of Justinian left an estimated 30–50 million people dead. So devastating was the pandemic that scholars believe it contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. It began in the ancient Egyptian city of Pelusium, and flea-infested rats carried the disease across the Mediterranean Sea on boats sailing to Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and seat of Emperor Justinian. From there it spread across Europe, Asia, Arabia, and North Africa, killing what may well have been half the world’s population of the time.
Hundreds of years later, the Yersinia pestis bacteria resurfaced to cause the Black Death, or Bubonic Plague, in the years 1347 to 1351. Estimates vary, but this outbreak of the plague wiped out 30–50 percent of Europe’s population. The pandemic was so devastating that it took more than 200 years for the population to return to its previous level.
Victims of the Black Death (Design by Edward Corbould, lithograph by F. Howard, c. mid-1800s)
You see, the plague had never truly disappeared after the Plague of Justinian, and it didn’t disappear after this wave either. The plague-causing bacteria persisted, and a series of “Great Plagues” cycled through Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, leaving over four million people dead. Included in these outbreaks were the Great Plague of London, the last major appearance of the Black Death, which was brought under control by new isolation laws and social distancing.
Luckily, “the Plague” isn’t something we’ve had to deal with in the everyday life of the modern world. But don’t let your guard down – it still exists.The CDC still receives a report of the one to 17 cases of the plague per year. It even resurfaced in the news after a child in Idaho contracted the disease a few years ago.
3. The Smallpox Pandemic and Other American Plagues of the 16th Century
During the age of Age of Exploration, lands were discovered, wonders were compared, and diseases spread like wildfire.
The conquest of the Americas remains a source of historical controversy, but one fact is indisputable: The ships that brought European explorers to the Americas also brought something else. Unbeknownst to the passengers, silent killers lurked beneath the ships’ decks, ready to debark at the docks. The stowaways? A handful of infectious diseases that would flare into pandemics. Deadly gifts to the people of the New World.
Smallpox and a cluster of Eurasian diseases brought to the Americas by European explorers wreaked havoc on the newly discovered Americas. The Smallpox Pandemic of 1520 alone killed an estimated 95% of Native Americans, and is said to have decreased Mexico’s population from 11 million to one million, and is considered the second deadliest pandemic to date.
Smallpox victims (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Smallpox was a feared disease long before – and after – it came to the Americas. The disease fluctuated between endemic and epidemic after its origin, but no one knows for sure where it started. Caused by the Variola major virus, it is believed to have first appeared during the early days of animal domestication, and evidence of it has been found in ancient Egyptian mummies. It remained endemic to Europe, Asia, and Arabia for centuries before arriving in the New World, bringing devastating consequences to a population of defenseless humans who had no prior contact with the disease.
Although the disease had grave effects – it killed an estimated 400,000 people in Europe, per year, during the 1800s – those who survived the disease obtained permanent immunity. But those weren’t the only ones to gain immunity; the first ever vaccine was created to ward off smallpox by Edward Jenner in 1796. With thanks to the vaccine, the World Health Organization declared smallpox to be eradicated in 1980.
Smallpox wasn’t the only disease that the unsuspecting North and South American natives were exposed to. Named using the Aztec word for “pest,” the Cocoliztli Epidemic (1545–1548) was believed to have killed as many as 15 million people in Mexico and Central America.
4. The H1N1 Virus and the “Spanish Flu”
The H1N1 virus was similar to the Plague in that it has gone by many names and surfaced many times, causing various degrees of sickness and even global pandemics. The so-called Spanish Flu (1918–1919) was probably the most infamous of its appearances in history.
We’ve all been hearing about this one lately, what with comparisons being drawn between it and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Like the crisis we're currently going through, the Spanish Flu was a global phenomenon, but it was far more catastrophic than COVID-19 has been in 2020. It infected an estimated 500 million people (about one-third of the world’s population at the time) and left as many as 50 million dead.
Another similarity between the H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is that both are zoonotic, as both crossed to humans from other species – H1N1 from pigs, and SARS-CoV-2 from bats (possibly through another species).
And, like COVID-19, the Spanish Flu struck a human population that had little or no defense against its ravages. Worse, it showed up in the last year of World War I, and it spread like wildfire among troops on both sides of the conflict who just happened to be in the age range most susceptible to it – 20 to 40 years old. It’s probably fair to say that influenza was as crucial to the final outcome of the war as were machine guns, for the disease killed soldiers almost as effectively as the guns.
"Spanish Flu" victims in hospital ward (Credit: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington, DC)
The H1N1 virus was incorrectly believed to have originated in Spain. Why? Because the virus spread during World War I, and Spain, being a neutral nation, was allowed to publish freely early accounts of the illness. But just because they were the first to report it, doesn’t mean they were the first to get it. You can understand why some Spaniards are a little prickly about calling it the “Spanish” flu.
While the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 was the deadliest of the 20th century, it wasn’t the only time the H1N1 virus spread globally. In 2009, the H1N1 virus stuck again, claiming an estimated 200,000 lives – this time under the moniker “Swine Flu.” The outbreak was caused by a new strain of H1N1 that originated in Mexico and primarily affected children and young adults – 80 percent of the deaths were of people younger than 65.
It may seem like a crazy notion, but pandemics are something that we will likely be battling through the end of time. Yes, modern medicine and superior living standards leave us more protected than we were in ancient times, but if the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that alone is not enough. History repeats itself – as do outbreaks. And there’s no denying that the pandemics of the past can teach us a thing or two about the one of our present day – and those of the future.
Magonjwa ya kuambukiza yamekuwa yakitokea katika jamii za wanadamu tangu mwanzo wa historia. Hebu tuchunguze magonjwa manne yenye sifa mbaya ya wakati uliopita ambayo yalibadili mwendo wa historia. Magonjwa yamekuwa sehemu ya maisha ya kila siku tangu mwanzo wa wakati na, kama tunavyojifunza kutoka kwa uzoefu mgumu, hiyo haitabadilika wakati wowote hivi karibuni. Ingawa kuna maandishi na ushahidi wa kimwili unaoonyesha jinsi ugonjwa ulivyoathiri jamii za wanadamu, bado kuna mambo ambayo hayajulikani. Kwa mfano, katika mwaka wa 250 W.K. Pigo la Kipriani liliua watu 5,000 kwa siku huko Roma pekee. Ni sababu gani? Haijulikani. Kwa bahati nzuri, sio kila kesi ni fumbo, na magonjwa ya zamani yanaweza kutufundisha mengi juu ya magonjwa ya siku zijazo. Hebu tuchunguze nne kati ya hizo. 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Tauni ya Athene (435-430 KK) Wakati wa Vita vya Peloponnesia, ugonjwa wa kuambukiza wa asili isiyojulikana ulifika Athene, kisha ukaenea katika sehemu fulani za Ugiriki na mashariki mwa Mediterania. Plague ya Athene, ambayo inaaminika kuanza katika Afrika Kusini mwa Jangwa la Sahara, iliua karibu watu 100,000 - karibu theluthi moja ya idadi ya watu wa jiji-jimbo wakati huo - na labda ilikuwa janga la mauti zaidi katika historia ya Ugiriki ya Kale. "Thucydides aliandika: ""Watu wenye afya nzuri walikuwa wakishambuliwa ghafla na joto kali kichwani, na nyekundu na uvimbe katika macho, sehemu za ndani, kama vile koo au ulimi, kuwa na damu na kutoa pumzi isiyo ya kawaida na ya harufu mbaya."" - Historia ya Vita vya Peloponnese." Plague in an Ancient City, Michiel Swerts, 1650 (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Ingawa ugonjwa uliosababisha tauni bado haujulikani, dalili za muktadha kama zile ambazo Thucydides alitupitisha zinaonyesha kwamba janga hili linaweza kusababishwa na homa ya typhoid au ugonjwa kama Ebola. Hata hivyo, jambo ambalo halijapingwa ni kadiri lilivyofanyiza historia. Wakati wa mlipuko huo, jenerali na mwanasiasa wa Athene, Perikles, aliuawa na ugonjwa huo, na pamoja naye, demokrasia ya Athene. Ugonjwa huo ulisababisha kushindwa kwa Athene, na hivyo kuathiri vita na maisha ya Wagiriki wa kale, na hivyo kubadilisha historia ya ulimwengu. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata "Yersinia pestis, au ""Janga la Pestilence,"" ni ugonjwa wa kuambukiza ambao umesababisha kuambukizwa kwa watu wengi na kwa hivyo ni maarufu kwa sababu ya kuvutia kwa watu wengi, na kwa sababu ya kuvutia kwa watu wengi, na kwa sababu ya kuvutia kwa watu wengi." Fikiria mandhari yoyote ya enzi za kati, na labda utafikiria "tauni" hiyo: ugonjwa huo wenye kusumbua unaosababishwa na panya na chawa unaosababishwa na bakteria ya Yersinia pestis. Lakini janga hilo lenye jina sahihi halikushambulia mara moja tu, na linaweza kuwa lilikuwepo katika aina nyingi kuliko ulivyofikiri. Kuna aina tatu za tauni: tauni ya Bubonic, tauni ya Septicemia, na tauni ya Pneumonia. Aina zote mbili za Bubonic na septicemic hutokana na kuwasiliana na chawa au wanyama walioambukizwa. Aina ya virusi vya Pneumonia, ambayo ni hatari zaidi kati ya aina tatu, ndiyo aina pekee inayoweza kuenea moja kwa moja kati ya watu. Janga la Plague lilianza kutokea mwaka 541 na mwaka 542 B.K. Janga la Justinian liliposababisha vifo vya watu milioni 30 hadi 50. Janga hilo lilikuwa lenye kuangamiza sana hivi kwamba wasomi wanaamini kwamba lilichangia kuanguka kwa Milki ya Roma. Mlipuko huo ulianza katika mji wa kale wa Pelusium, Misri, na panya waliopatikana na chawa walichukua ugonjwa huo kupitia Bahari ya Mediterania kwa mashua zilizokuwa zikielekea Constantinople, mji mkuu wa Milki ya Roma ya Mashariki na makao makuu ya Maliki Justinian. Kutoka hapo ilitawanyika kotekote Ulaya, Asia, Arabia, na Afrika Kaskazini, ikiua kile ambacho huenda kilikuwa nusu ya idadi ya watu ulimwenguni wakati huo. Baadaye, bakteria ya Yersinia pestis ilisababisha tauni ya Bubonic, ambayo ilisababisha tauni ya Bubonic. Takwimu zinatofautiana, lakini mlipuko huo wa tauni ulifuta asilimia 30 hadi 50 ya idadi ya watu wa Ulaya. Janga hilo liliharibu sana watu na ilichukua zaidi ya miaka 200 ili idadi ya watu warudi kwenye kiwango cha awali. "Mfano wa ""Watu waliokufa kwa tauni"" (Edward Corbull, F. Howard, 1800) ni mfano wa tauni ya Justinian, ambayo ilitokea wakati wa Vita vya Kwanza vya Ulimwengu." Mlipuko wa virusi vya corona ulisababisha mlipuko mkubwa wa magonjwa ya kuambukiza katika Ulaya katika karne ya 17 na 18, na kusababisha vifo vya watu milioni nne. Mlipuko huo ulijumuisha tauni kubwa ya London, maambukizi makubwa ya mwisho ya ugonjwa wa Black Death, ambayo yaliwekwa chini ya udhibiti na sheria mpya za kutengwa na watu na kuweka umbali wa kijamii. Kwa bahati nzuri, "tauni" si kitu ambacho tumelazimika kukabiliana nacho katika maisha ya kila siku ya ulimwengu wa kisasa. "Hata hivyo, kwa sababu ya hali hiyo, CDC inaripoti ""wakati mwingine"" hadi ""wakati mwingine"" ya ugonjwa huo." Hata ilionekana tena katika habari baada ya mtoto mmoja huko Idaho kupatwa na ugonjwa huo miaka michache iliyopita. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli "Mwaka wa 16 na 16 wa Amerika, ""Enzi ya Uvumbuzi,"" nchi ziligunduliwa, maajabu yalilinganishwa, na magonjwa yakaenea kama moto wa mwituni." Ushindi wa Amerika bado ni chanzo cha ubishi wa kihistoria, lakini ukweli mmoja ni wa hakika: Meli zilizoleta watafiti wa Ulaya Amerika pia zilileta kitu kingine. Bila abiria kujua, wauaji wasio na sauti walionekana chini ya meli, wakiwa tayari kutua kwenye bandari. Abiria wasio na abiria? Kuna aina kadhaa za magonjwa ya kuambukiza ambayo yanaweza kuenea na kuwa janga. Zawadi za mauti kwa watu wa Ulimwengu Mpya. Mlipuko na makundi ya magonjwa ya Eurasia yaliyoletwa Amerika na wavumbuzi wa Ulaya yalitokeza uharibifu mkubwa katika Amerika iliyokuwa imegunduliwa hivi karibuni. Janga la ugonjwa wa chembechembe la mwaka 1520 lilipunguza idadi ya watu wa Mexico kutoka milioni 11 hadi milioni moja, na ni janga la pili la kuua zaidi. Waathirika wa ugonjwa wa ndui (Public domain, kupitia Wikimedia Commons) Dudu ya ndui ilikuwa ugonjwa uliogopwa muda mrefu kabla <unk> na baada <unk> ilikuja Amerika. Ugonjwa huo ulibadilika-badilika kutoka kuwa wa kawaida hadi kuwa wa tauni baada ya kutokea, lakini hakuna anayejua kwa hakika ulianzia wapi. Virusi vya Variola vimeonekana kwa mara ya kwanza katika siku za mapema za ufugaji wa wanyama, na ushahidi wa ugonjwa huo umepatikana katika maiti za kale za Misri. Ugonjwa huo uliendelea kuenea Ulaya, Asia, na Arabia kwa karne nyingi kabla ya kuwasili katika Ulimwengu Mpya, na kuleta matokeo mabaya kwa idadi ya watu wasioweza kujilinda ambao hawakuwa wamekutana na ugonjwa huo hapo awali. Ingawa ugonjwa huo ulikuwa na athari mbaya - uliua takriban watu 400,000 nchini Ulaya, kwa mwaka, wakati wa miaka ya 1800 - wale waliopona ugonjwa huo walipata kinga ya kudumu. Lakini sio tu wale waliopata kinga; chanjo ya kwanza iliundwa ili kuzuia ugonjwa wa ndui na Edward Jenner mnamo 1796. Kwa sababu ya chanjo hiyo, Shirika la Afya Ulimwenguni lilitangaza kwamba ugonjwa wa ndui ulikuwa umeponywa mwaka wa 1980. Mlipuko haukuwa ugonjwa pekee ambao wenyeji wa Amerika Kaskazini na Kusini ambao hawakuwa na shaka walipatwa nayo. "Kama vile habari za kihistoria zinavyoonyesha, ugonjwa wa ""Cocoliztli"" ulisababisha vifo vya watu milioni 15 nchini Mexico na Amerika ya Kati." 4. Uwe na uhakika H1N1 virusi na homa ya Kihispania - H1N1 virusi ni aina ya virusi vya homa ya H1N1 na homa ya H1N1 ambayo imesababisha magonjwa mbalimbali na hata magonjwa ya kuambukiza ulimwenguni kote. "Hata hivyo, ""mlipuko wa Hispania"" (mlipuko wa 1918-1919) ni mojawapo ya magonjwa ya kawaida zaidi katika historia." """Tumeona mambo mengi ya kushangaza katika kipindi hiki cha hivi karibuni, na tunaona tofauti kubwa kati ya hali ya sasa ya COVID-19." "Kama ilivyo kwa janga la sasa, homa ya Hispania ilikuwa ""madhara makubwa zaidi"" kuliko COVID-19." Ilipata watu milioni 500 (karibu thuluthi moja ya idadi ya watu duniani wakati huo) na kusababisha vifo vya watu milioni 50. H1N1 na SARS-CoV-2 (virusi vinavyosababisha COVID-19) ni zoonotic, kwani zote mbili zilibadilishwa kwa wanadamu kutoka kwa spishi zingine - H1N1 kutoka kwa nguruwe, na SARS-CoV-2 kutoka kwa popo (labda kupitia spishi nyingine). Kama COVID-19, mafua ya Kihispania iliathiri idadi ya watu ambao walikuwa na ulinzi mdogo au hakuna dhidi ya uharibifu wake. "Kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba ugonjwa huo ulifika mwaka wa mwisho wa Vita vya Kwanza vya Ulimwengu na kuenea haraka sana miongoni mwa askari wa pande zote mbili za vita, ambao walikuwa katika umri ambao walikuwa na uwezekano mkubwa zaidi wa kuugua - ""miaka 20 hadi 40.""" Inawezekana kusema kwamba mafua ilikuwa muhimu sana kwa matokeo ya mwisho ya vita kama vile bunduki za mashine zilivyokuwa, kwa sababu ugonjwa huo uliwaua askari karibu kwa ufanisi kama bunduki. "Hakuna mtu aliyewahi kuambukizwa virusi vya ""Spanish Flu"" katika hospitali ya Washington, D.C. Kwa sababu ya kuambukizwa kwa virusi hivyo, watu wengi waliamini kwamba virusi hivyo vilitokea nchini Hispania." Kwa nini? Kwa sababu virusi hivyo vilisambaa wakati wa Vita vya Kwanza vya Ulimwengu, na kwa kuwa Hispania ilikuwa nchi isiyo na upande wowote, iliruhusiwa kuchapisha kwa uhuru masimulizi ya mapema ya ugonjwa huo. Lakini kwa sababu tu walikuwa wa kwanza kuripoti, haimaanishi walikuwa wa kwanza kupata. Unaweza kuelewa kwa nini baadhi ya Wahispania ni kidogo prickly kuhusu kuiita <unk>Spanish<unk> mafua. Wakati janga la homa ya 1918-1919 lilikuwa hatari zaidi ya karne ya 20, haikuwa mara pekee virusi vya H1N1 kuenea ulimwenguni. "Hatua hiyo ilisababisha maambukizi ya virusi vya homa ya H1N1 na ""Homa ya Nguruwe"" ambayo ilisababisha vifo vya watu chini ya umri wa miaka 65." "Inaweza kuonekana kama wazo la wazimu, lakini janga ni kitu ambacho tunaweza kuwa tukipambana nacho hadi mwisho wa wakati. """ """Ndiyo, dawa za kisasa na viwango vya juu vya maisha vinatuweka salama zaidi kuliko tulivyokuwa katika nyakati za kale, lakini ikiwa mlipuko wa hivi karibuni wa COVID-19 umetufundisha chochote, ni kwamba peke yake haitoshi." Historia hurudiwa - kama vile milipuko ya ugonjwa. Na hakuna kukataa kwamba magonjwa ya janga ya zamani yanaweza kutufundisha kitu au mbili kuhusu moja ya siku zetu za sasa na zile za siku zijazo.