deadliest diseases in human history

Taking its name from the Ebola River, near which the disease first appeared in 1976, the virus is transmitted from person to person via direct contact with bodily fluids. Symptoms include muscle pain, weakness, and high fever. It has a fatality rate of 90 percent.

An ancient and greatly feared disease, smallpox is fatal in as many as 30 percent of cases. The death toll was estimated at almost 500 million until it was declared eradicated in 1977 after a WHO programme of vaccination.

Transmitted to humans via the bites of infected mosquitoes, these days Yellow Fever occurs most often in South America and Africa, and WHO estimates that of the 200,000 new cases each year, roughly 30,000 die.

Though it typically attacks the lungs, the Tuberculosis bacteria can also affect the brain, spine and kidneys. According to WHO, someone somewhere is infected with TB every second and 1.3 million people died from the disease in 2012.

A highly contagious respiratory disease, many are successfully vaccinated against measles, but it still rages in parts of Africa, Asia and the eastern Mediterranean, causing an astonishing 22 deaths each hour.

The most common cancer-related killer worldwide, lung cancer is responsible for 1.38 million deaths each year. According to WHO, smoking is the most important risk factor in 70 percent of deaths.

Cholera causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea and death can occur within hours. Most prevalent in countries where access to clean water is limited, WHO estimates that there are some 3 to 5 million cases each year.

A mosquito-borne disease, malaria causes severe flu-like symtomps. Without treatment, it can be fatal, with 90 percent of the million deaths each year occurring in children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

One of the world?s most devastating epidemics, ?Spanish Flu? is estimated to have killed between 30 and 50 million people in 1918/1919

WHO predicts that chronic lung diseases, such as bronchitis and emphysema, will be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.