Historical Viral Outbreaks

Outbreak	Virus	Impact	Spread	Control Measures	References
1918 Influenza Pandemic	H1N1 Influenza A	50-100 million deaths globally	Airborne droplets, global travel	Isolation, quarantine, masks, hygiene practices	- Johnson, N.P.A.S., & Mueller, J.E. (2002). The pandemic of 1918. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 8(1), 21-26. - Taubenberger, J.K., & Morens, D.M. (2006). 1918 Influenza: The Mother of All Pandemics. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12(1), 15-22.
1980s HIV/AIDS Epidemic	HIV	Over 36 million deaths worldwide	Sexual contact, contaminated needles	Safe sex practices, needle exchange, antiretroviral therapy	- UNAIDS. (2020). Global HIV & AIDS statistics — Fact sheet. - Fauci, A.S., & Marston, H.D. (2014). HIV and AIDS — 30 years of progress. New England Journal of Medicine, 370, 2381-2388.
2003 SARS Outbreak	SARS-CoV	Over 8,000 cases, 774 deaths	Airborne droplets, close contact	Quarantine, isolation, travel restrictions, contact tracing	- WHO. (2003). Summary of probable SARS cases with onset of illness from 1 November 2002 to 31 July 2003. - Peiris, J.S.M., et al. (2004). Clinical progression and viral load in a community outbreak of pneumonia due to SARS-CoV. The Lancet, 361(9371), 1765-1772.
2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak	Ebola Virus	Over 28,000 cases, 11,000 deaths	Direct contact with bodily fluids	Quarantine, safe burial practices, contact tracing, vaccination	- WHO. (2016). The WHO Ebola Response Team. New England Journal of Medicine, 374, 664-674. - Jacobsen, K.H. (2016). The Ebola outbreak and the future of public health preparedness. Journal of Global Health, 6(2).
2019-2024 COVID-19 Pandemic	SARS-CoV-2	Millions of cases and deaths worldwide	Airborne droplets, aerosols, surfaces	Testing, social distancing, masks, travel restrictions, vaccination	- WHO. (2024). COVID-19 Dashboard. - Andrews, N., et al. (2021). Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against the B.1.617.2 variant. New England Journal of Medicine, 385, 585-594.
2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic	H1N1 Influenza A	Estimated 200,000-500,000 deaths worldwide	Airborne droplets, global travel	Vaccination, antiviral medications, public health campaigns	- Dawood, F.S., et al. (2012). Estimated global mortality associated with the first 12 months of 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 virus infection. PLoS ONE, 7(6), e48209. - WHO. (2010). H1N1 pandemic (2009) – update 112.
Zika Virus Outbreak (2015-2016)	Zika Virus	Associated with microcephaly and neurological disorders in infants	Vector-borne (mosquitoes), sexual contact	Mosquito control, travel advisories, public health campaigns	- WHO. (2016). Zika virus. - Petersen, E.E., et al. (2016). Association between Zika virus and microcephaly. The New England Journal of Medicine, 374, 951-959.
Smallpox Eradication (1960s-1980s)	Variola Virus	300-500 million deaths prior to eradication	Airborne droplets, direct contact	Worldwide vaccination campaign, isolation, and surveillance	- Fenner, F., et al. (1988). Smallpox and its eradication. World Health Organization. - Whalen, C.C., & Dawood, F.S. (2014). The eradication of smallpox: A historical review.
Marburg Virus Outbreak (1967, 2005-2006)	Marburg Virus	High mortality rates, up to 90%	Direct contact with bodily fluids, contaminated materials	Quarantine, supportive care, contact tracing	- WHO. (2005). Marburg haemorrhagic fever – Angola. - Towner, J.S., et al. (2009). Marburg virus infection detected in a healthcare worker during a large outbreak in Angola. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 199(12), 199-204.
MERS Outbreak (2012-present)	MERS-CoV	Over 2,500 cases, 858 deaths	Airborne droplets, close contact, camels	Isolation, travel restrictions, public health education	- WHO. (2020). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). - Zaki, A.M., et al. (2012). Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. New England Journal of Medicine, 367, 1814-1820.