Submitted by Taps Coogan on the 22nd of November 2017 to The Sounding Line.

The following video, from YouTube creator EmperorTigerstar, shows a map of Eurasia with every major plague epidemic from 428 BC until 1740 AD. The worst single epidemic in history, the ‘Black Death,’ struck between 1346 and 1355 and is estimated to have killed 30-60% of the European population at the time but it was far from the only major outbreak to occur. In fact, plague epidemics struck quite regularly for over a thousands years.

Plague has been back in the news recently due to reoccurring deadly outbreaks in Madagascar. The disease can now be cured with antibiotics if treatment begins in time, yet impoverished areas of Madagascar and much of Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to appropriate medical care. It is reported that in Madagascar, a country of 22 million, there are only roughly 6,000 hospital beds.

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