Name

Time period

Type/Pre-human host

Death toll

Antonine Plague

165-180

Believed to be either smallpox or measles

5 M

Japanese smallpox epidemic

735-737

Variola major virus

1 M

Plague of Justinian

541-542

Yersinia pestis bacteria/Rats, fleas

30 - 50 M

Black Death

1347-1351

Yersinia pestis bacteria/Rats, fleas

200 M

New World Smallpox Outbreak

1520-onwards

Variola major virus

56 M

Great Plague of London

1665

Yersinia pestis bacteria/Rats, fleas

100,000

Italian plague

1629-1631

Yersinia pestis bacteria/Rats, fleas

1 M

Cholera Pandemics 1 - 6

1817-1923

V. cholerae bacteria

1 M+

Third Plague

1885

Yersinia pestis bacteria/Rats, fleas

12 M (China and India)

Yellow Fever

Late 1800s

Virus/Mosquitoes

100,000 - 150,000 (U.S.)

Russian Flu

1889-1890

Believed to be H2N2 (avian origin)

1 M

Spanish Flu

1918-1919

H1N1 virus/Pigs

40 - 50 M

Asian Flu

1957-1958

H2N2 virus

1.1 M

Hong Kong Flu

1968-1970

H3N2 virus

1 M

HIV/AIDS

1981-present

Virus/Chimpanzees

25 - 35 M

Swine Flu

2009-2010

H1N1 virus/Pigs

200,000

SARS

2002-2003

Coronavirus/Bats, Civets

770

Ebola

2014-2016

Ebolavirus/Wild animals

11,000

MERS

2015-Present

Coronavirus/Bats, camels

850

COVID-19

2019-Present

Coronavirus—Unknown (possibly pangolins)

323,000c