healthmedicinet

• Interactive map shows the reach of diseases, as well as death tolls and their symptoms, such as fever and rashes
• It details the world’s most deadly outbreaks since 541 – when the Plague of Justinian struck Europe and beyond
• Map also includes modern outbreaks, such as Sars, the flu pandemic of 2009 and most recently, Ebola in Africa 

By

Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

Published:
08:22 EST, 10 October 2014

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Updated:
10:20 EST, 10 October 2014

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With Africa gripped by the Ebola outbreak, experts are working around the clock to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

From the building of medical centres and tests at airports, to scientists working on diagnostic tests and a vaccine, the fight is underway to contain and treat the disease, which has killed more than 3,800 people so far.

And now, the outbreak has been plotted on an interactive map, which details the world’s most deadly outbreaks since 541 – when plague struck Europe and beyond.

Scroll down for video 

Click on the map below to learn more about the world’s deadliest outbreaks 

It allows people to access symptoms and death tolls at the click of a button, and see the spread of disease marked on a map of the world.

The first outbreak to be mapped is the Plague of Justinian of 541 and 542. It ravaged areas of modern-day Europe, Northern Africa, and Russia, killing 5,000 people a day at its peak.

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Yersinia Pestis – the organism responsible for the Bubonic Plague afflicted the Eastern Roman Empire.

People suffering from the illness complained of fevers, headaches, fatigue, necrosis – the death of body tissue – and the swelling of the lymph nodes, especially in the area of the armpit or groin.

The first outbreak to be seen on the map is the Plague of Justinian of 541 and 542. It ravaged areas of modern-day Europe, Northern Africa, and Russia, killing 5,000 people a day at its peak

The map also shows how the Black Death of 1346 to 1350 rocked Europe, the Middle East, Russia and northern Asia. It killed approximately two thirds of infected humans within just four days.

A more targeted outbreak struck in 1665, known as the Great Plague of London.

The outbreak killed an estimated 100,000 people, approximately 15 per cent of London’s population at the time. It was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected rat flea.

A more targeted outbreak struck in 1665, known as the Great Plague of London.The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, about 15 per cent of London’s population at the time. It was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected rat flea

No-one knew what was causing the plague (illustrated) so Londoners used superstitious measures to protect themselves, such as wearing lucky charms

No-one knew what was causing the plague, so Londoners used superstitious measures to protect themselves.

These included wearing lucky charms, taking quack cures, such as ‘powdered unicorn horn’ and using chicken feathers to draw the poison out of the body.

More practical measures, such as placing money in bowls of vinegar to avoid the transmission of the disease and smoking tobacco – as suggested by the College of Physicians – were also used to try and prevent the spread of the plague.

The map shows that the Second Cholera Pandemic of 1829 to 1851 affected most of the northern hemisphere.

This pandemic began, like the first, with outbreaks along the Ganges River delta in India. 

From there the disease spread along trade routes to Asia, Europe and North America in 1829, lasting 20 years.

Symptoms included vomiting, dehydration and diarrhoea. 

The disease is thought to have killed over 100,000 people.

The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic coincided with the end of the First World War and struck worldwide.

It was a one of the worst influenza pandemics in history, killing at least 75 million people between 1918 and 1923 globally.

Symptoms included fever, chills, headache, sneezing, a sore throat and fatigue.

The map also shows more recent outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, (Sars) which struck in 2002.

It started in China and spread throughout Asia over a 12-month period, killing around 775 people. Ebola has so far proved more deadly than Sars, killing more than 3,800 people. 

This pandemic began, like the first, with outbreaks along the Ganges River delta in India. From there, the disease spread along trade routes to Asia, Europe and North America in 1829, lasting 20 years. Symptoms included vomiting, dehydration and diarrhoea. The disease is thought to have killed over 100,000 people, as seen to the right of the map

The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic (shown on the map) coincided with the end of the First World War and struck worldwide. It was a one of the worst influenza pandemics in history, killing at least 75 million people between 1918 and 1923

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The map also summarises the deadliest diseases since records began. Smallpox (pictured) is the biggest killer and has been responsible for 500 million deaths

The map was made when fatalities totalled 3,069, at of September this year, and the figures were taken from data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), media outlets and Stanford University.

It was created by Buddy Loans.  

2014 has seen the worst outbreak in history of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and the outbreak has a mortality rate of around 50 per cent.

The map also summarises the deadliest diseases since records began. Smallpox is the biggest killer and has been responsible for 500 million deaths.

Some experts believe that up to 90 per cent of the population of the New World was killed by the disease. Smallpox is an infectious disease caused by either of two variants, variola major and variola minor.

It got its name in the 15th Century to distinguish variola from the ‘great pox’ – syphilis. The last naturally occurring case of smallpox was diagnosed on 26 October 1977.

Smallpox is believed to have emerged in human populations about 10,000 BC and the earliest known physical evidence of it is a pustular rash on the mummified body of Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt.

Measles is thought to have killed 200 million people, while Spanish Flu killed 100 million.

The worst outbreak came in 1918, when it infected 500 million people globally, killing approximately 75 million of those infected. The outbreak even reached areas such as the Arctic and remote Pacific Islands.

The map also shows more recent outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) which struck in 2002 (pictured). It started in China and spread throughout Asia in a 12-month period, killing around 775 people

Many measures were taken to prevent the rapid spread of Sars. Here, schoolchildren in Hong Kong wear compulsory face masks. People found to harbour the disease were isolated and treated with antipyretics and oxygen

Bubonic plague – also known as the Black Plague, killed between 30 and 60 per cent of the European population in the 14th Century – and 75 million people in total.

Aids is the fifth deadliest disease in human history and has been responsible for approximately 40 million global deaths.

Typhus has killed an estimated four million people, and strikes most frequently during times of war and deprivation. For example, it killed hundreds of thousands of prisoners in Nazi concentration camps during World War Two. 

2014 has seen the worst outbreak in history of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). There were 3,069 confirmed cases as of September 2014, and the figure is now said to exceed 3,800. The outbreak has a mortality rate of around 50 per cent. This scene shows bodies being taken away in Sierra Leone

More than 750 British military personnel and a medical ship will be deployed to West Africa to help fight the Ebola epidemic. The ship, RFA Argus, which has a fully-equipped hospital including critical care and high-dependency units, will be sent to Sierra Leone in a bid to stop Ebola from spreading, as other preventative measures are being put in place. The affected areas of Africa are shown on the map

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