Epidemics & public health

Topics represented

Epidemics & public health (23) · Surveillance (8) · VIH/sida (6) · Cooperación sanitaria (5) · Vacunación (4) · Control de brotes (3) · Enfermedades zoonóticas (3) · Antirretrovirales (2) · Instituciones de salud (2) · Peste (2) · Regulación sanitaria (2) · Sistemas de salud (2)

Records and sources

Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.

1. 1769–1773

   Famine, smallpox, and Company revenue rule in Bengal

   Drought, harvest failure, and epidemic produced catastrophe under the Company’s new revenue regime, which maintained heavy demands and provided inadequate relief. Mortality estimates—including the traditional figure of ten million—are disputed and must not be rendered as an exact count

2. 1902

   International Sanitary Bureau in the Americas

   The International Sanitary Convention of the American Republics created the International Sanitary Bureau in 1902, a predecessor of today’s PAHO. Its early functions included regular exchange of data on ports, quarantines, and communicable diseases; it was an inter-American institution, not a worldwide public-health system.

3. 1910–1911

   Pneumonic-plague epidemic in Manchuria

   The 1910–1911 pneumonic-plague epidemic in Northeast China prompted field investigation, bacteriological identification, isolation, and coordination with local and international authorities, associated with Wu Lien-teh’s work. Historical literature differs on some counts and transmission explanations; this entry does not treat them as a single certainty.

4. 1918–1919

   1918–1919 influenza pandemic

   The 1918–1919 influenza pandemic spread worldwide during the war and produced exceptional mortality. There is no universal consensus on the virus’s geographic origin, and impact estimates vary by source; without vaccines or antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections, available measures—isolations, quarantines, and limits on gatherings—were applied unevenly.

5. 1921

   Introduction of the BCG tuberculosis vaccine

   BCG was first administered to humans in 1921. It became an early preventive tool against tuberculosis and was later incorporated into immunization programmes; its effectiveness depends on the form of tuberculosis, age, and epidemiological setting, so it did not eliminate the disease by itself.

6. 1923

   League of Nations epidemiological reporting

   In 1923, the League of Nations Health Organisation published its first annual epidemiological report to inform authorities in different countries about nearby epidemics. It was a precursor to international surveillance based on comparable data, although its reach depended on national reporting systems and the period’s political framework.

7. 1928–1945

   From penicillin observation to therapeutic production

   Fleming observed a mould’s antibacterial effect in 1928; other teams developed its isolation, clinical testing, and large-scale production during the 1940s. Penicillin transformed treatment for certain bacterial infections, not viral diseases, and its deployment also opened issues of access, appropriate use, and antimicrobial resistance.

8. 1946–1948

   WHO Constitution and establishment

   The Constitution of the World Health Organization was adopted in 1946 and entered into force on 7 April 1948. WHO succeeded earlier health institutions as a UN specialized agency and provided a framework for technical cooperation; its authority and results depend on Member States, resources, and international agreements.

9. 1955–1969

   Global Malaria Eradication Programme

   WHO launched a malaria-eradication programme in 1955, drawing on available insecticides and medicines. It achieved reductions and eliminations in some places but did not reach worldwide eradication; resistance, local conditions, and continuity of services limited the programme, and in 1969 strategy was reoriented toward control.

10. 1955

    Trial and adoption of inactivated polio vaccine

    In 1955, the inactivated polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk’s team was announced to have shown efficacy in a large field trial. That same year, cases linked to a contaminated lot temporarily halted the US programme, underscoring that production, regulation, and safety surveillance are part of a vaccination campaign.

11. 1959–1980

    Smallpox eradication programme

    WHO began a smallpox-eradication programme in 1959 and intensified it in 1967, combining vaccination, case finding, and contact containment. The last known natural case occurred in Somalia in 1977, and the World Health Assembly declared eradication in 1980; the result depended on sustained local and international work, not the vaccine in isolation.

12. 1969

    1969 International Health Regulations

    The World Health Assembly adopted the International Health Regulations in 1969, replacing and renaming the 1951 sanitary regulations. They initially covered six diseases and were later reduced to cholera, plague, and yellow fever; their narrow scope and dependence on state notifications help explain why they were revised in later decades.

13. 1974

    Expanded Programme on Immunization

    WHO launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1974 to support childhood immunization reaching every country. Its initial target diseases included BCG, diphtheria, measles, pertussis, polio, smallpox, and tetanus; turning available vaccines into effective coverage required supply chains, personnel, data, and access that remained uneven.

14. 1976

    First recognized Ebola-virus disease outbreaks

    In 1976, two simultaneous Ebola-virus disease outbreaks were identified in areas of today’s South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The milestone made a family of severe viral diseases and the challenges of detection, care, and infection control visible; it does not retrospectively treat all later outbreaks as equivalent.

15. 1978

    Alma-Ata Declaration on primary health care

    The 1978 Alma-Ata Conference, convened by WHO and UNICEF, placed primary health care at the centre of population health and identified inequalities between and within countries. It was a political and ethical declaration: subsequent implementation varied by resources, policy, and context, and it did not by itself guarantee universal access.

16. 1981

    First public report of cases leading to AIDS identification

    On 5 June 1981, CDC’s MMWR reported five cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia among previously healthy young men in Los Angeles. The report was later recognized as the first publication on the illness that would be called AIDS and activated epidemiological investigation and surveillance definitions; it did not yet identify the causal agent.

17. 1985–1987

    HIV test and first authorized antiretroviral

    FDA licensed the first HIV test in 1985 and approved zidovudine (AZT) as the first antiretroviral to treat AIDS in 1987. These steps expanded detection and a treatment option, but did not by themselves resolve access, stigma, confidentiality, or treatment inequities.

18. 1987–1988

    WHO Global Programme on AIDS

    WHO created the Special Programme on AIDS in 1987, renamed the Global Programme on AIDS in 1988. It brought research and national responses into an international strategy and helped mobilize information and public action; its programmes operated in settings where stigma and available resources differed sharply.

19. 1994

    Zidovudine guidance to reduce perinatal HIV transmission

    The 1994 public-health recommendations incorporated ACTG 076 results on zidovudine for selected pregnant people and newborns to reduce the risk of perinatal HIV transmission. The result concerned a specific regimen and trial population; its adoption required diagnosis, prenatal care, consent, and access that were not universal.

20. 1994–1995

    Reported plague outbreak in India and start of IHR revision

    In 1994, an outbreak reported as plague in India, including Surat, prompted an international response and highlighted difficulties of diagnosis, notification, and travel and trade measures. Findings about confirmation varied among reports; in 1995, the World Health Assembly called for a substantial revision of the limited-scope 1969 International Health Regulations.

21. 1996

    Triple antiretroviral therapy for HIV

    In 1996, trials showed that three-drug combinations could durably suppress HIV replication to very low levels and create a higher barrier to resistance than monotherapy. This transformed treatment prospects for people able to receive it, although early regimens had adverse effects, complexity, and highly unequal access.

22. 1996

    UNAIDS begins operations

    The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) began operating in 1996 to coordinate the UN system’s response to the epidemic. It provided a framework for collaboration among agencies, governments, and civil society, but international coordination did not eliminate national differences in funding, rights, or access to services.

23. 1997

    Human H5N1 infections in Hong Kong

    In 1997, human infections with avian influenza A(H5N1) were reported during a poultry outbreak in Hong Kong. The episode strengthened surveillance at the human-animal health interface; studies at the time found inefficient person-to-person transmission, so it should not be described as a human pandemic.

24. 1998–1999

    Recognition of Nipah virus in Malaysia and Singapore

    Nipah virus was identified during an outbreak among pig-farm workers in Malaysia in 1998, followed by a 1999 outbreak in Singapore linked to imported sick pigs. The case showed zoonotic risks associated with production chains and animal movement, without making all animal contact equivalent routes of infection.