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Infectious
52 diseases
Smallpox
Eradicated in 1980, the only human disease ever eliminated. Killed an estimated 300-500 million peop...
Bubonic Plague
The Black Death killed 75-200 million people in the 14th century, 30-60% of Europe. Plague doctors w...
Spanish Flu
Infected 500 million people, one-third of the world population. Estimates of deaths range from about...
COVID-19
First identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Declared a pandemic March 11, 2020. Over 770 mill...
Malaria
Kills over 600,000 people annually, mostly African children under 5. Mentioned in ancient Chinese an...
Tuberculosis
TB has killed over 1 billion people throughout history. Found in Egyptian mummies. Called consumptio...
Cholera
Seven major pandemics since 1817. John Snow traced the 1854 London outbreak to a single water pump, ...
HIV/AIDS
Has killed over 40 million people since 1981. Originally called GRID, gay-related immune deficiency....
Yellow Fever
The 1793 Philadelphia epidemic killed around 5,000 people, roughly a tenth of the city. Walter Reed ...
Typhus
Epidemic typhus has shaped military history more than any other disease. Killed more soldiers than c...
Polio
Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed at age 39 by an illness diagnosed as polio. Iron lungs kept thou...
Ebola
First identified near the Ebola River in Zaire. The 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak killed over 11,00...
Rabies
Once symptoms appear, rabies is nearly 100% fatal. Described in Mesopotamian law codes. Louis Pasteu...
Measles
One of the most contagious diseases, R0 of 12-18. Before vaccination, nearly every child caught it. ...
Leprosy
One of the oldest recorded diseases, mentioned in ancient Indian, Chinese, and Egyptian texts. Cause...
Diphtheria
Called the strangling angel of children. A membrane forms in the throat, slowly suffocating victims....
Pertussis
Whooping cough can cause violent coughing fits lasting 10 weeks or more. The sound of a whooping cou...
Influenza
Causes 290,000-650,000 respiratory deaths annually. The virus changes constantly, so vaccines are up...
Pneumonia
The single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide, killing over 700,000 under 5 ann...
SARS
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome emerged in Guangdong, China. Infected 8,098, killed 774, a fatalit...
MERS
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome emerged in Saudi Arabia. Fatality rate around 35%, much higher than...
Zika
The 2015 epidemic in Brazil was linked to microcephaly in newborns. The virus can cross the placenta...
Dengue Fever
Called breakbone fever for the severe joint and muscle pain. Infects 390 million people annually. A ...
Syphilis
The first European epidemic was among French troops besieging Naples. Called the French disease in I...
Athens Plague
Devastated Athens during the Peloponnesian War, killing 75,000-100,000. Thucydides survived and desc...
Antonine Plague
Brought back by Roman troops from Mesopotamia. Killed an estimated 5-10 million, possibly including ...
Plague of Cyprian
Named after St Cyprian who described apocalyptic symptoms. Killed 5,000 per day in Rome at its peak....
Chickenpox
Causes the iconic itchy blister rash. The virus stays dormant in nerves and can reactivate decades l...
Mumps
Causes painful swollen salivary glands. Hippocrates described it around 410 BC. Can cause meningitis...
Rubella
German measles is mild in children but devastating to unborn babies. Norman Gregg linked it to blind...
Hepatitis B
Chronically infects about 296 million people. Baruch Blumberg discovered the virus while studying bl...
Hepatitis C
Called the silent epidemic because it destroys the liver over decades. Discovered in 1989 by molecul...
Meningitis
Inflammation of the brain linings that can kill within 24 hours. The African meningitis belt suffere...
Tetanus
Soil spores produce a toxin causing rigid, arching muscle spasms. Called lockjaw. Neonatal tetanus k...
Anthrax
The disease Robert Koch used in 1876 to show that a specific germ causes a specific disease. Pasteur...
Typhoid Fever
Spread by contaminated food and water. Mary Mallon, Typhoid Mary, was an asymptomatic carrier who in...
Chagas Disease
A parasite of poor rural housing in Latin America. Carlos Chagas discovered the parasite, its insect...
African Sleeping Sickness
The parasite invades the brain, disrupting sleep cycles until patients slip into coma. An old treatm...
Leishmaniasis
Causes disfiguring skin ulcers known since antiquity as the Aleppo boil or Baghdad boil. The viscera...
Schistosomiasis
Parasitic worms whose eggs lodge in organs and cause long-term damage. Eggs have been found in Egypt...
River Blindness
Once the second leading infectious cause of blindness. Blackfly breeding in fast rivers blinded whol...
Elephantiasis
Filarial worms clog lymph vessels, causing massive limb swelling. Affects tens of millions, mostly i...
Guinea Worm Disease
A meter-long worm emerges through a burning skin lesion over weeks. The ancient treatment of winding...
Lassa Fever
Named after a Nigerian town where a missionary nurse died in 1969. Rats contaminating food spread it...
Nipah Virus
Jumped from fruit bats to pigs to farmers in 1998, killing about 40% of those infected. Causes brain...
Marburg Virus
Broke out among laboratory workers in Marburg, Germany, handling African monkeys in 1967. A hemorrha...
Mpox
Known as monkeypox after its discovery in lab monkeys in 1958. Circulated quietly in Central Africa ...
Norovirus
The winter vomiting bug causes explosive outbreaks on cruise ships, in hospitals, and in schools. Na...
Scarlet Fever
A strep throat rash that killed waves of Victorian children. Declined mysteriously in the 20th centu...
Gonorrhea
One of the oldest described diseases. It remains curable with antibiotics, with ceftriaxone the pref...
Trachoma
Repeated eye infections scar the eyelids until lashes scratch the cornea blind. Blinded ancient Egyp...
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
A misfolded protein kills brain cells, leaving sponge-like holes. Always fatal. A variant linked to ...