5 Deadly Outbreaks You Probably Never Heard Of

Some health practitioners and experts say one common thing: we were due to have a new flu virus.

In December 2019, a new virus strain, COVID-19, started to infect thousands in China. By early 2020, its infectious nature reached different countries like the United States, Italy, and Spain. At the time of writing, over 1,000,000 people are infected, and over 60,000 have died.

In this article, we examine viral outbreaks like coronavirus in the 20th and 21st centuries.

H1N1 (1918)

The 1918 H1N1 Influenza (Spanish flu, as many call it) is possibly one of the deadliest outbreaks in history. 

Experts aren’t sure where the virus originated. It’s hypothesized to have started in Asia, while some do say it began in the Iberian Peninsula. That’s why some historians or researchers called it the Spanish flu. It’s also named as H1N1 because the virus came from an avian origin.

At the time, you had the Spanish flu if you exhibited these symptoms:

• Chills
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Blue skin
• Fluid in lungs

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the first wave of the outbreak in the United States started in March 1918. The disease was so infectious that it spread to different continents in six months. By October 1918, over 195,000 Americans died because of H1N1 influenza. One of the most surprising findings of the 1918 influenza that it even killed healthy individuals between 20 to 40 years old.

Researchers and scientists only gave an estimate as to how many died from the virus. Estimated deaths were between 50 to 100 million, while there were over 500 million people infected globally. Taubenberger and Morens believe that the mortality rate was 2.5%. Besides, History suggests the death toll for the H1N1 virus claimed more lives than World War I.

H2N2 (1957)

The CDC reports that the new influenza strain was in Singapore first then spread to Hong Kong. Its other misnomer is Asian flu since the virus spread in the region. Britannica finds that similar to viral outbreaks like coronavirus in 2003 and 2019, it first appeared in China and spread in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Most of the infected are the elderly, children, and pregnant women.

Those who contracted H2N2 had these symptoms:

• Cough
• Fever
• Pneumonia

This virus strain claimed over 1 to 2 million lives globally. There’s no official case fatality rate (CFR) globally, but in a symposium paper by Dr. Payne, they estimate that it’s less than 1% in England. Meanwhile, CFR for the young and elderly range from 1 in 2000 to 1 in 6000.

H3N2 (1968)

Another virus strain in Asia manifested ten years later. Some called it the Hong Kong flu. Many researchers suggest that it was from the same virus strain as the Asian flu. It spread to the United States in September 1968, with over 100,000 deaths in the country.

Similar to H2N2, there were over 1 to 4 million deaths worldwide. Symptoms of the 1968 Influenza are:

• Fever
• Chills
• Tiredness
• Muscle pain

It’s similar to the viral outbreaks like coronavirus in 2003 (SARS-CoV) and 2019. The CDC says that this strain of influenza continues to infect as Influenza A (or the seasonal virus). 

Sino Biological states that the CFR for the Hong Kong flu is 0.5%.

H1N1 (2009)

Six years after the SARS-CoV outbreak, a new flu virus strain emerged.

According to Krista Duda in Very Well Health, the first case of the H1N1 virus was found in a 10-year old girl in California. They add that it’s a mix of swine, avian, and human genes. Based on the CDC timeline, WHO declared it a public health emergency on April 25 then raised the pandemic alert on April 27.

People at risk of contracting the 2009 H1N1 disease are the elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, chronically ill patients, and children less than five years old. Those who had the 2009 H1N1 virus had some of these symptoms (alongside cough and body pain):

• Runny nose
• Sore throat
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue

The CDC estimates that 0.001 to 0.007% died from respiratory complications. Plus, they also estimate that the death toll was around 151,700 to 575,400 worldwide. It’s one of the viral outbreaks like coronavirus in 2019.

Ebola (2014-2016)

Aside from COVID-19, one of the most recent viral outbreaks in history is the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. Scientists first discovered the Ebola virus disease in 1976. There were no cases of Ebola in the ‘80s, but it reemerged in 1994 and has reemerged time and time again.

Those who contracted Ebola presented these symptoms:

• Fever
• Body pains
• Muscle weakness
• Sore throat
• Headache

Plus, according to the National Health Service, the symptoms can last up to 21 days. Other symptoms that could occur are diarrhea, rash, and internal bleeding.
The 2014 to 2016 outbreak is significant because of reported cases outside Africa. The reported incidences for this outbreak were 28,652, while the death toll was at 11,325. There were only 11 cases of Ebola in the United States during this time. Only two of them died. WHO reports that the CFR is 50%.