The worst epidemics ever to hit the US
New England: Smallpox (1633-1634) - Smallpox came to North America in the 1600s with the European settlers, killing more than 70% of the Native American population.
Philadelphia: Yellow fever (1793) - The infectious disease, which causes the skin to yellow and provokes severe vomiting, killed 5,000 people.
New York City: Cholera (1832-1866) - During this time period, the US—particularly New York City—experienced three serious waves of cholera.
New England: Scarlet fever (1858) - This bacterial infection can occur after strep throat, which makes it more commonly spread among children.
New York: ‘Typhoid Mary’ (1906-1907) - The state was the stage for one of the worst typhoid fever epidemics of all time.
United States: ‘Spanish flu’ (1918) - An estimated 675,000 Americans died that year.
United States: Diphtheria (1921-1925) - At its peak in 1921, more than 206,000 people were infected with diphtheria and 15,520 died.
United States: Polio (1916-1955) - The outbreak peaked in 1952 when it killed 3,145 of the 57,628 who became infected.
United States: Second measles outbreak (1981-1991) - The viral airborne disease claimed between 2,000 and 10,000 every year during the outbreak.
United States: HIV and AIDS (1981-2005) - About 1.2 million in the US are HIV-positive. About 636,000 people have died from AIDS in the US since the 1990s
United States: Swine flu (2009) - H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, killed almost 4,000 Americans between April and October.
California: Whooping cough (2010, 2014) - In 2010, 10 babies died from the disease, scientifically known as pertussis.