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Asked by kiraacarr98 to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 16 Mar 2012.
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Sean Murphy answered on 16 Mar 2012:
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium. It killed about 450 million people in the 14th century. There may be worse stuff out there, but this one certainly caused the most damage.
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Lena Ciric answered on 17 Mar 2012:
I’d pick an MRSA blood infection, or tuberculosis caused by an antibiotic resistant bacterium. Our biggest problem when it comes to diseases caused by bacteria is that a lot of the bacteria are now becoming resistant to many antibiotics. So we’re heading toward a situation where we just won’t be able to fight these diseases and pandemics, like the one Sean describes below, may become possible again. It’s a scary thought.
A little bit more about Yersinia pestis – there were warnings in 2010 that the building of Crossrail (a new partially underground train line in London) may disturb old burial sites used during the plague pandemic and an outbreak of anthrax. Thankfully this hasn’t happened. Phew!
Comments
ogoldfinch09 commented on :
It is possible that the bacteria related disease that has killed the most did it’s damage over a long period of time but a sudden death toll like the one seen with the black death causes more economic damage.