11. Influenza pandemics have been common throughout history
The first medical practitioner to encounter and describe illness resembling influenza – commonly called the flu – was Hippocrates. Another ancient Greek physician described a similar illness which ravaged the Athenian Army in the Mediterranean Sea. Not until 16 centuries passed would the ailment acquire the name of influenza. When it did it was named for superstition. Influenza was derived from the Italian word for influence. The physician making the discovery and dispensing the name believed that the disease he described was influenced by the stars, particularly those of the winter sky. In terms of disease, influenza is one of the most prolific killers of all time.
In 1580 a strain of influenza emerged in Asia, crossed into Europe and the Mid-East via the Silk Road, and devastated the world’s population. Approximately 90% of the global population contracted the disease. Doctors resorted to the tried and true medical practice of the day – bleeding – and weakened already ill patients further. The pandemic killed over 8,000 in Rome, similar numbers in cities across Spain, and further afflicted the Ottoman Empire. In the New World, the population of the Antilles was all but wiped out in an earlier epidemic in 1493, probably introduced by the crews of Columbus. The natives had no naturally developed immunity and little defense against the disease.