Pandemic Disease

Globalization has made the spread of disease faster. Major pandemics of the recent era include:

• HIV/AIDS: Identified in the early 1980s, became a global pandemic that has killed approximately 40 million people. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs from the late 1990s transformed HIV from a death sentence into a manageable condition in countries that could afford treatment.
• SARS (2003): Coronavirus outbreak originating in southern China that spread to 30 countries and killed about 800 people. Early warning of pandemic potential of coronaviruses.
• H1N1 "swine flu" (2009): Pandemic flu strain that killed several hundred thousand worldwide.
• Ebola epidemic (2014-2016): Severe outbreak in West Africa killed over 11,000 people.
• COVID-19 (2020-): The most consequential pandemic in a century. Killed approximately 7 million people directly and disrupted economies, education, and politics globally. Vaccines developed within a year were a remarkable scientific achievement; rapid spread before vaccines were available exposed gaps in global health infrastructure.