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New England: Smallpox (1633-1634) - Smallpox came to North America in the 1600s with the European settlers, killing more than 70% of the Native American population.

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New England: Smallpox (1633-1634) - In 1721, 5,889 Boston residents acquired the infectious disease, and 844 died from it.

In 1770, Edward Jenner developed a vaccine from cowpox.

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New England: Smallpox (1633-1634) -

The last known case of smallpox in the US was registered in 1949, and the disease is now considered eradicated in the US.

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Philadelphia: Yellow fever (1793) -

Once the nation’s capital and busiest port, Philadelphia was exposed to viruses from those arriving in the city. That’s what happened one particularly humid summer in 1793. Caribbean refugees escaping a yellow fever outbreak in their respective lands arrived in Philadelphia’s port.

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Philadelphia: Yellow fever (1793) - The infectious disease, which causes the skin to yellow and provokes severe vomiting, killed 5,000 people and caused 17,000 others to flee the city.

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Philadelphia: Yellow fever (1793) -

In 1951, Max Theiler developed the vaccine. Although there is no cure for yellow fever, the vaccine is good for life and is recommended for anyone nine months and older, especially if you live or travel to high-risk areas.

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New York City: Cholera (1832-1866) - During this time period, the US—particularly New York City—experienced three serious waves of cholera, an infection of the small intestine.

It is estimated that two to six Americans died every day from cholera in this time period.

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New York City: Cholera (1832-1866) -

The pandemic initiated in India, and quickly spread across the globe through trade routes.

It is unclear how the devastating pandemic ended, but the last known case in the US was in 1911.

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New York City: Cholera (1832-1866) -

Cholera still kills almost 130,000 worldwide every year, particularly Africa, Haiti, southeast Asia, and central Mexico. The best way to prevent it is by washing your hands regularly with soap and water, and avoid drinking contaminated water.

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New England: Scarlet fever (1858) -

This bacterial infection can occur after strep throat, which makes it more commonly spread among children. In fact, 95% who were infected with the virus in New England were children.

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New England: Scarlet fever (1858) - No one really knows how the epidemic ended, but improvements in public health and sanitation are likely the reason.

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New York: ‘Typhoid Mary’ (1906-1907) -

The state was the stage for one of the worst typhoid fever epidemics of all time. The New York epidemic became known as Typhoid Mary after a woman named Mary Mallon was identified as the asymptomatic carrier who spread the virus while working as a cook on an estate and in a hospital unit.

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New York: ‘Typhoid Mary’ (1906-1907) - Mary Mallon was isolated twice by public health authorities, and died after nearly three decades in isolation.

Typhoid fever killed more than 10,000 that year.

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New York: ‘Typhoid Mary’ (1906-1907) - Almroth Edward Wright developed the first effective typhoid vaccine in 1896.

Typhoid fever is rare in the US. There are an estimated 5,700 cases a year.

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United States: ‘Spanish flu’ (1918) - Despite its name, the ‘Spanish flu’ was the name used to describe what we know today as the flu. An estimated 675,000 Americans died that year.

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United States: ‘Spanish flu’ (1918) - The flu circulates the globe annually, but 1918 and 1957 were particularly hard-hitting years. In 1957, the epidemic was dubbed ‘Asian flu,’ and killed almost 70,000 Americans.

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United States: Diphtheria (1921-1925) -

At its peak in 1921, more than 206,000 people were infected with diphtheria and 15,520 died.

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United States: Diphtheria (1921-1925) - Researchers licensed a vaccine against the bacterial disease in the mid-1920s, causing the infection rates to plummet. Today, more than 80% of children are vaccinated against the disease.

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United States: Polio (1916-1955) - The outbreak peaked in 1952 when it killed 3,145 of the 57,628 who became infected.

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United States: Polio (1916-1955) - Jonas Salk developed a vaccine in 1955 to combat the viral disease that affects the nervous system and causes paralysis. Seven years after the introduction of the vaccine, the cases dropped to 910, and the US was polio-free by 1979.

In 2022, however, we are experiencing a new outbreak of the disease due to low vaccination rates. Experts agree that a vaccinated population is the best defense against poliomyelitis, and new campaigns are starting in the US.

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United States: Second measles outbreak (1981-1991) - The viral airborne disease claimed between 2,000 and 10,000 every year during the outbreak.

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United States: Second measles outbreak (1981-1991) - The outbreak was most common among children because of poor vaccination coverage. In 1989, health care professionals began to recommend a second dose of the vaccine, which was developed in 1962.

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United States: Second measles outbreak (1981-1991) - The US now generally experiences fewer than 1,000 cases each year.

However, the country experienced another measles outbreak in 2014 and 2015.

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Milwaukee: Cryptosporidium (1993) - One of the state’s two water treatment plants became contaminated with this parasitic disease, causing 403,000 to become ill and 100 to die, making this the largest waterborne outbreak in our nation’s history.

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Milwaukee: Cryptosporidium (1993) -

Improved water filtration helped combat this disease, but almost 750,000 cases of cryptosporidium still occur in the US every year.

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United States: HIV and AIDS (1981-2005) - In the early 1980s, the disease was thought to be a rare case of lung infection. AIDS is the disease some people develop after being infected by the HIV virus. AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death in the US among people 25 to 44 years old.

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United States: HIV and AIDS (1981-2005) - About 1.2 million in the US are HIV-positive. About 636,000 people have died from AIDS in the US since the 1990s, and 15,529 people died in 2010 alone.

However, diagnoses have fallen by 19% since 2005.

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United States: HIV and AIDS (1981-2005) - There is no known cure for AIDS, but an effective emergency pill called PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) prevents the disease from developing if taken within 72 hours of exposure.

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United States: Swine flu (2009) - H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, killed almost 4,000 Americans between April and October.

In total, 22 million Americans contracted the virus, and 98,000 required hospitalization.

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California: Whooping cough (2010, 2014) - This highly contagious disease is one of the most common diseases in the US. Infants who are too young to be vaccinated are at the highest risk for life-threatening cases.

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California: Whooping cough (2010, 2014) -

In 2010, 10 babies died from the disease, scientifically known as pertussis. To improve prevention, doctors recommend that pregnant women get vaccinated in their third trimester.

See also: Everything you need to know about edema

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