10. Smallpox
a smallpox viral image captured using a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
Numerous variations of the variola virus still call for immunisation in many nations. Smallpox had the greatest fatality rates, with only a 10% or less chance of surviving in its worst forms, hemorrhagic and flat. Fortunately, because it only spreads through contact with humans, this illness is the only one on this list that has been entirely eradicated from the natural world.
9. Typhoid fever
An illustration of typhoid illness
Typhoid fever has a fatality rate of only 10–30%, making it one of the least deadly illnesses on this list. However, the symptoms develop gradually over a three-week span, and they typically don’t have a fatal outcome. Despite this, a person who has recovered from the illness may still carry it inactively and pass it on to someone else. The American chef known as “Typhoid Mary” Mallon, who lived in the early 1900s, was the most well-known instance of this.
8. Influenza
Picture of the influenza
The virus that anyone, anywhere can acquire is influenza, which is possibly the most frightening one on this list. Fortunately, the flu can be quickly recognised and is generally easy to treat. However, flu is especially contagious in young children and the elderly. The most well-known type was the Spanish Flu, which is thought to have killed between 2 and 5 percent of people between 1918 and 1919. Thankfully, that strain has never been observed again, but the influenza virus is renowned for changing in animals and then spreading to people.
7. Bubonic Plague
This plague murders about 70% of its victims in 4–7 days and is spread by infected fleas. The Black Death, which is thought to have killed about 25 million people in Europe alone and another 50 million worldwide during the Middle Ages, is the most well-known pandemic. Despite the fact that there haven’t been many outbreaks in the contemporary era, swollen lymph nodes are frequently a sign of the bubonic plague.
6. Cholera
Humans typically contract cholera by consuming contaminated food or water. If left untreated, the illness will advance from severe diarrhoea to shock in 4–12 hours and, in extreme cases, death in 18–24 hours. Fortunately, cholera can be treated with oral rehydration therapy; however, in its most severe state, cholera can kill within three hours. But proper hygiene habits can stop an outbreak. In many developing nations, the old adage “don’t drink the water” is true.
5. Anthrax
Although anthrax has been used as a biological weapon in the past, a person only becomes fatally ill from the disease after inhaling the spores, eating, or coming into touch with infected animals. Once a host is infected, the bacteria multiplies rapidly and produces two deadly toxins that kill the host. From the cold-like symptoms, which then cause severe breathing problems, shock, and ultimately death, it can take anywhere between two days and a month for someone to pass away. It has been demonstrated that using a lot of antibiotics can stop the illness. Although there is a vaccine, some anthrax strains are immune to antibiotics.
4. Malaria
More than 500 million cases of this vector-borne infectious illness are still reported annually, with 1-3 million fatalities when untreated. Fortunately, a person with malaria can expect a complete recovery with treatment, though there is no vaccine for it like many of the illnesses on this list. However, it has been observed that there is a malaria-related death worldwide approximately every 30 seconds.
3. SARS
SARS disease-related image
There has only ever been one significant SARS outbreak, which occurred in Asia a few years back. The disease’s fatality rate when it manifests as viral pneumonia is typically around 70%, with victims over 65 having the greatest fatality rate. Although it is claimed that the Chinese government developed a vaccine that was successful in about two-thirds of test groups, many other treatments have shown to be just as problematic as SARS itself. You will die if what you do not do saves you.
2. Ebola
This viral strain, discovered within the last 30 years, has a 50–89% fatality rate. Ebola is known to be fatal to both humans and animals. A individual with Ebola will typically pass away within a week to two weeks from multiple organ failure or hypovolemic shock. Recently, a Canadian firm claimed that they had developed a vaccine that worked in 99.9% of the monkey tests. Sadly, no medication or immunisation has yet received approval for use in people.
1. HIV/AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is brought on by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), damages a person’s immune system. Despite the absence of a vaccine or treatment, the CDC has classified AIDS as an epidemic, and life expectancy has increased. While the Ebola virus is much more lethal when it is present alone, most AIDS patients ultimately pass away from an AIDS-related illness.