# "worldwide" Plagues in history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790 "2005-01-20T21:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/1 "2005-01-20T21:34:19Z")
I say “worldwide” to mean a large geographic area that was interconnected somehow. Is there any historical evidence of mass death due to disease (or other natural phenomena) where a significant portion of the population in a socio-geographic area was affected aside from the black death in Europe? (Im thinking in places like China, or Middle East. Basically, anywhere with written records going back into antiquity). PS. I’m really having trouble wording this question clearly. Hope its understandable. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/2 "2005-01-20T21:38:10Z")
The 1918 influenza pandemic spread through all continents, and had a higher toll in pure numbers than the Black Death. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/3 "2005-01-20T21:40:15Z")
There are two that come to mind immediately. Excuse the Wikipedia links… The [Spanish Flu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Flu) pandemic of 1918-19 killed tens of millions of people worldwide, more than all of World War I. [Smallpox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#The_Americas) and other diseases killed up to 90% of the inhabitants of North and South America after European contact. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/4 "2005-01-20T21:41:02Z")
Yep. > [@](#): > > The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe” the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. [http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/](http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/5 "2005-01-20T21:42:19Z")
Crap. You guys are fast 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/6 "2005-01-20T21:53:25Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Crap. You guys are fast 😃 Yup - and I even avoided linking to that Stanford site because I thought somebody else would link to it first! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/7 "2005-01-20T22:02:33Z")
Ah yes, a 1918 style death virus. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/8 "2005-01-20T22:10:54Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > The 1918 influenza pandemic spread through all continents, and had a higher toll in pure numbers than the Black Death. [This cite disagrees](http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/9 "2005-01-20T22:13:06Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > [This cite disagrees](http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/). Huh? > [@](#): > > More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/10 "2005-01-20T22:23:40Z")
Another devastating one from earlier in history was “Justinian’s Plague” ( named after the last great East Roman, as opposed to _Byzantine_, Emperor ), which is surmised to have started ~540 C.E. in central Africa and lasted until at least 590 ( or 767 depending who’s counting ), spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, killing many millions ( the exact numbers are in dispute, but regardless were huge relative to population ). It’s considered one of the big reasons ( in addition to the simple ruinous cost of his wars ) that Justinian’s attempt to rebuild the universal Roman empire, particularly in the west, proved somewhat ephemeral. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/11 "2005-01-20T22:51:05Z")
Hie thee down to your public library, and check out a copy of [Rats, Lice, and History](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884822479/002-5259227-8698426). Many pandemics are documented therein. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/12 "2005-01-21T00:08:25Z")
Beetlemania ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/13 "2005-01-21T01:50:22Z")
Beatlemania. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/14 "2005-01-21T08:10:39Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Huh? The Black Death lasted far longer than 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![robotic\_panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@robotic\_panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robotic_panda)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/15 "2005-01-21T11:34:49Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Another devastating one from earlier in history was “Justinian’s Plague” ( named after the last great East Roman, as opposed to _Byzantine_, Emperor ), which is surmised to have started ~540 C.E. in central Africa and lasted until at least 590 ( or 767 depending who’s counting ), spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, killing many millions ( the exact numbers are in dispute, but regardless were huge relative to population ). …_snip_ > > - Tamerlane Right before that was the Athenian plague, 5th century BCE. Poor Pericles. Not exactly “worldwide” but well documented nonetheless. [Plague in the Ancient World](http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1996-7/Smith.html) (which also covers the Justinian Plague) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/16 "2005-01-21T13:23:40Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Beetlemania > [@YPOD](#): > > Beatlemania. **Beagle** mania. I just thing those doggies are _soooo cuuuuute!_ What? ---
**Author:** ![robotic\_panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@robotic\_panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robotic_panda)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-plagues-in-history/285790/17 "2005-01-21T13:38:43Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > **Beagle** mania. > > I just thing those doggies are _soooo cuuuuute!_ > What? Ahem. You were blinded by the panda. 😉