List the eight worst outbreaks in history and briefly comment on their causes and transmission methods.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The outbreaks are the first Great Influenza Outbreak (1918 - 1919); The Black Death (1300 - 1400s); HIV/AIDS (1981 to present); Annual Seasonal Influenza Outbreaks; The Plague of Justinian 541 AD; The First Cholera Pandemic 1817-1823; The Antonine Plague (165-180 AD); The Asiatic-Russian Influenza (1889-1890).
The major outbreaks are from propagated respiratory outbreaks such as influenza. Person to person transmission is usually necessary for an outbreak to include so many people. However, the outbreaks of plague throughout history are noteworthy since plague is very seldom transmitted from person to person. This is the reason that although plague kills large numbers of people, it takes many years. With the exception of the First Cholera Pandemic in 1817-1823, food and water borne outbreaks are generally absent from this list. Also notice that a "seasonal influenza" outbreak is listed, but this is a recurring outbreak which happens each year. In the U.S., the seasonal influenza outbreak kills about 36,000 people a year, but that has been happening every year for years. In addition, there are ongoing outbreaks such as AIDS and malaria which are noteworthy because they have killed large numbers of people worldwide but are preventable. These historical outbreaks have been deadly and scary events, however, they are by no means the most frequent types of outbreaks occurring in the past or present around the world. The setting for most outbreaks is a smaller, localized situation which at some point, has, or will affect all of us.