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From slowly evolving illnesses, to those imminently fatal death sentences, we count down the 10
most infectious diseases.
NUMBER 10: Rabies Rabies is fatal if not treated immediately.
You contact Rabies typically after being bitten by an animal (or feasibly another human) that
has rabies. The thing is, you should seek treatment any time you are bitten, because
the chance of surviving Rabies if treatment begins after symptoms pop up is about 8%.
Those aren’t very good odds. Ever heard of ‘foaming at the mouth’? That’s Rabies.
The disease kills about 55,000 people every year, and people who contract the disease
must live with vicious side effects like acute pain, violent movements, and mania.
NUMBER 09: Smallpox There’s a reason why we worked so hard to
rid the world of Smallpox. Once you have Smallpox, your body, including your mouth and throat,
will become littered with pussing, fluid filled bumps. The disease has killed 300 million
since 1800 alone, but it has been around since about 10,000 BC. Just pray that you don’t
get hemorrhagic Smallpox, which causes bleeding to occur under your skin, which sours your
body, earning it the nickname, ‘black pox’.
NUMBER 08: Tuberculosis Be careful when you see someone sneeze, because
that’s how Tuberculosis spreads. It’s no laughing matter, either, as over one third
of the population is infected with Tuberculosis. However, this is likely just a latent form
and the symptoms will never arrive. If they do, however, which is about a one in ten probability,
you’re in for a rough ride. Coming in at a 50% mortality rate and killing 1.5 million
people a year, Tuberculosis’s main target is usually the lungs, but will move around
attacking other organs, including a male’s testicles. If you have a weak heart, mute
this for a second—Tuberculosis can, at times, erode the pulmonary artery, causing your lungs
to fill with blood.
NUMBER 07: Influenza Influenza, more commonly referred to as the
flu, is seen as less of a threat today simply because we have the means to treat it. But,
that wasn’t always the case. In today’s day and age, people will only get the flu
a couple times and get over it pretty quickly with some over the counter drugs or an annual
flu shot. However, in 1918, things were a little different. The Spanish Flu killed 100
million people—including many young and healthy people. The reason for this was because
the flu could turn an immune system against the patient’s body, meaning the healthier
you were, the more deadly the virus became. These days, strains of the flu are appearing
to grow stronger, so let’s hope we don’t see anything like the Spanish Flu any time
soon.
NUMBER 06: Anthrax Yes—Anthrax makes this list. Why? It’s
a bacterial infection that’s super lethal. Before Anthrax became a household name after
the attack on September 11th, 2001, it was still just as lethal, and wreaked havoc all
over the world. Anthrax is insanely fatal. Even one of the ingredients is aptly named,
‘Lethal Toxin’. Anthrax is most dangerous through inhalation, ingestion, or through
broken skin. Diarrhea is usually the first symptom, with death following within a few
days to two weeks. Anthrax is one of history’s worst villains. An island in Scotland was
marked uninhabitable for 50 years after Anthrax contaminated the area. Burning is one of the
only ways to kill Anthrax—all around, it’s a vicious beast.
NUMBER 05: Cholera Cholera is a terrifying infectious disease
that has struck fear in the heart of man all throughout history. Cholera spreads through
contaminated food and water—allowing the disease to spread like fire. It has killed
millions, and to this day, kills 120,000 people or more each year. Cholera can cause patients
to produce 5 gallons of diarrhea a day. Today, if you can find treatment, you only have about
a one percent chance of dying. However, there are strains that can kill within 2 hours.
NUMBER 04: Bubonic Plague If there is one disease that can top Cholera,
it’s the Bubonic Plague. Here’s why. Bubonic Plague has one death toll at 100 million that
swept Europe in the Middle Ages, and then another death toll from the Roman Empire that
knocked out 50 million people. The Roman Empire at its peak topped out at an estimated 90
million people—accounting for 20% of the world population at the time. That means the
Bubonic Plague decimated a huge portion of the globe in one swoop. Sadly, such a massive
disease is transmitted by simple rat fleas—which also die. Sad, we know. The Japanese also
used the Bubonic Plague as a weapon against the Chinese in World War II. If you think
that’s horrific, imagine the fourteenth century—where diseased bodies were flung
over the walls of cities under attack
NUMBER 03: AIDS As of today, more than 30 million people have
died of AIDS, with another 40 million listed as infected. There’s still no cure in sight,
and current methods of treatment can be very expensive. What makes AIDS so terrifying is
that it makes the human body far more susceptible to Tuberculosis, hepatitis, and several forms
of cancer. We’ll do our part and spend the next few moments saying something very important.
Safe sex will save your life. You do not want AIDS. Using protection against STD’s and
HIV is the smartest thing you can possibly do. Be safe. Always.
NUMBER 02: Ebola Ebola is incredibly lethal if not treated
immediately. Some outbreaks have seen upwards of 90% and higher mortality rates. Native
to central Africa, cases in the 1970’s started cropping up due to what was found out to be
indigenous wildlife. But, that’s about as specific as it gets. No one truly knows where
Ebola came from. Humanity believes that some animal species carries it, but we have no
idea what species that is. If you contract Ebola, pain can start anywhere in the body—resulting
in multiple organ failure and certain death within most untreated cases. Those who do
get treated, however, can make a full recovery. No one has used Ebola as a biological weapon
yet, though that is a major fear that permeates all throughout the world.
NUMBER 01: MRSA We’re not sure why this is, or how it came
to be, but the disease makes modern medicines unusable. MRSA contains what’s known as
a ‘Superbug’ which causes boils and lacerations of the skin—and can kill within 24 hours.
All strains of MRSA that exist are resistant to our modern day antibiotics. Why? These
strains, unlike other, more treatable diseases, are far more pathogenic—and brutal. MRSA
can cause a flesh eating condition, systemic infections, a flesh eating infection that
targets lung tissue, bone infections, bloodstream infections, and an infection that targets
the heart. The scariest part is these diseases show that they’re getting stronger. Perhaps
the use of antibiotics by mankind will come at a terrifying price.