Major U.S. Epidemics
Here's a list of the major outbreaks in U.S history, including locations and the number of deaths.
- Philadelphia: more than 4,000 residents died from yellow fever.
- July–Aug., New York City: over 3,000 people killed in a cholera epidemic.
- Oct., New Orleans: cholera took the lives of 4,340 people.
- New York City: more than 5,000 deaths caused by cholera.
- New Orleans: yellow fever killed 7,790.
- New Orleans: 3,093 perished from yellow fever.
- Southern states: over 13,000 people died from yellow fever in lower Mississippi Valley.
- Nationwide: over 7,000 deaths occurred and 27,363 cases were reported of polio (infantile paralysis) in America's worst polio epidemic.
- March–Nov., nationwide: outbreak of Spanish influenza killed over 500,000 people in the worst single U.S. epidemic.
- Nationwide: 2,720 deaths occurred from polio, and 42,173 cases were reported.
- Nationwide: polio killed 3,300; 57,628 cases reported.
- Nationwide: an Asian flu outbreak killed 70,000 before it was completely eradicated.
- 1981–Dec. 2005:
- total estimated U.S. AIDS cases: 988,376; total estimated AIDS deaths: 550,394 (Centers for Disease Control).
- Milwaukee, Wis.: one of Milwaukee's water treatment plants became contaminated with cryptosporidium and killed more than 100; 403,000 cases reported.
- in April, H1N1, also known as Swine Flu, breaks out and quickly spreads to more than 70 countries. The Centers for Disease Control reports that between April and October, 22 million Americans had contracted the virus, 98,000 required hospitalization, and about 3,900 people died from H1N1-related causes.
- California: an outbreak of whopping cough causes the death of ten infants; 9,477 cases reported.
- Nationwide: a meningitis outbreak traced back to contaminated steroid medication shipped to 23 states killed 36; 500 cases reported.