25 Most Deadly Diseases in Human History As violent as we can be towards one another, throughout history the biggest executioner of the human race has been deadly disease. Whether it was the Black Death in 14th century Europe or Ebola in present day Africa, the loss of human life and cost to society has been astronomical. These are the 25 deadliest diseases in human history.violent

25. Cholera This infection of the small intestine is transmitted primarily by drinking water or eating food containing the feces of an infected person. Worldwide about 5 million people are affected and over 100,000 die from Cholera every year.

24. Smallpox After the vaccination campaigns of the 20th century, smallpox has become one of two infectious diseases that have been declared as completely eradicated (the other being rinderpest). Throughout history, however, small pox has claimed numerous lives and just in the 20th century, prior to vaccination, the death toll was estimated at nearly 500 million.

23. Yellow fever Transmitted by the bite of female mosquitoes, this disease is found in Africa and South America. It typically involves fever, chills, anorexia, nausea, muscle pain (with prominent backache) and headache, but in most cases subsides after several days. Due to warfare and social disruption across Africa, there has been a resurgence since the 1980s. About 30,000 deaths occur each year.

22. Tuberculosis Usually attacking the lungs, this disease is spread by airborne saliva. The classic symptoms of active tuberculosis infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Today some estimates put nearly one third of world down as having some form of tuberculosis. About 1.5 million deaths occur per year.

21. Influenza Commonly known as the flu, influenza is usually transmitted through the air like tuberculosis but sometimes through direct contact with contaminated surfaces. Because the virus can be inactivated by soap, however, frequent hand washing reduces the risk of infection. Annually about 250, ,000 die, but at certain times flu pandemics have killed more. One such outbreak in is estimated to have killed about 100 million people, as much as 5% of the world’s population at the time.

20. Lung cancer On a world wide scale lung cancer is the most common cancer related death in men and women, responsible for 1.38 million deaths annually.

19. Diarrhea A common cause of death in third world countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide, the loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte disturbances such as potassium deficiency or other salt imbalances.

18. Complications of Childbirth Each year, about 500,000 women die worldwide from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, including severe bleeding/hemorrhaging, infections, unsafe abortions, obstructed labor and ecclampsia, and more than 90 percent of maternal deaths occur in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

17. Whooping cough Technically known as Pertussis, this highly infectious disease is known in some countries as the “cough of 100 days”. It is estimated that the disease currently affects 48.5 million people yearly, resulting in nearly 295,000 deaths.

16. Ebola Deriving its name from the Ebola River in Republic of the Congo, where it was first found, its victims typically suffer fevers, muscle weakness, and other symptoms that progress to severe bleeding, both internal and external, that eventually causes them to bleed to death. Unfortunately there is no treatment as of yet. Currently, we are experiencing what some are claiming to be the deadliest and worst outbreak of the disease in history.

15. Bird flu Although we’ve already covered influenza as a whole, certain strains adapt to a particular host, in this case birds. Most human contractions of the avian flu are a result of either handling dead infected birds or from contact with infected fluids. For this reason there have been large outbreaks in heavily agricultural parts of Asia and Africa. Researchers fear the potential for future outbreaks is high.

14. Tetanus Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. Infection generally occurs through wound contamination and often involves a cut or deep puncture wound. As the infection progresses, muscle spasms develop in the jaw (thus the name “lockjaw”) and elsewhere in the body. A severe problem in developing countries: 58,000 newborns died of tetanus in 2010.

13. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Often abbreviated as COPD, this disease is caused by noxious particles or gas, most commonly from tobacco smoking, that trigger an abnormal inflammatory response in the lung. Worldwide, COPD is projected to become the fourth leading cause of death by 2030 due to an increase in smoking rates and demographic changes in many countries.

12. Ischemic Heart Disease Basically a fancy way of saying heart attacks (or at least the factors that predispose individuals to them), by some estimates 1 in 3 people are said to die from heart disease.

11. Meningitis Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation may be caused by infection and less commonly by certain drugs. The most common symptoms are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light or loud noises. Meningitis causes about 120,000 deaths per year.

10. Swine flu Although it has been declared by the WHO as officially over, swine flu was yet another deadly and contagious strain the influenza virus.

9. Syphilis This sexually transmitted disease is believed to infect roughly 12 million people annually, with greater than 90% of cases in the developing world. Symptoms include everything from rashes to heart problems and sometimes it can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Up to 1.5 million births are affected and as many as 113,000 deaths occur each year.

8. Lower Respiratory Infections There are two types of lower respiratory infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. Some common symptoms of these infections are runny nose and sneezing, headache, and sore throat. Although in most western countries these diseases are not fatal, in the developed world a lower respiratory infection can easily be lethal. They account for about 2.8 million deaths a year.

7. Stroke This happens when blood flow to a part of the brain is interrupted because a blood vessel is blocked or bursts open. It’s the second most frequent cause of death worldwide, causing 6.2 millions deaths in 2011.

6. Bubonic plague Known as a zoonotic disease, circulating mainly among small rodents and their fleas, without treatment the bubonic plague kills about two thirds of infected humans within 4 days. In the Middle Ages, an epidemic of plague is believed to have wiped out about 1/3 of the human population.

5. SARS A viral respiratory disease in humans similar to pneumonia, the last known case of the outbreak occurred in June SARS is not claimed to have been eradicated, however, as it may still be present in its natural host reservoirs (animal populations) and may return to the human population. It created a lot of fear at the time because of its severity and quick spread.

3. Leprosy This chronic disease has had a long history of making its victims social pariahs due to the way it deforms the surface of the skin. Although these days treatments have been discovered, in many parts of the developing world leper colonies are still very prevalent. Over half a million new cases of leprosy are identified each year.

3. Measles Measles is spread through respiration and is highly contagious as roughly 90% of people sharing living space with an infected person will catch it. While the vast majority of patients survive measles, complications occur fairly frequently, and may include bronchitis, and panencephalitis which is potentially fatal. In 2011, 158,000 deaths from measles occurred but historically there have been measles epidemics that killed significant numbers of people.

2. HIV/AIDS The virus behind AIDS, a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening infections and cancers to thrive. Since its discovery AIDS has cause over 30 million deaths.

1. Malaria This mosquito born infectious disease causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can progress to coma or death. It is found primarily in the tropics and as of yet there is no effective vaccination. About 1 million people die each year from malaria.