From the long history of outbreaks at Covid-19

Human history is marked by epidemic diseases. They have always followed movements, linked to trade or wars. These epidemics, defined as plagues before modern times, could be caused by different diseases (typhoid, smallpox, bubonic or pulmonary plague, yellow fever). Recent acceleration in travel, along with the development of air travel, has increased the speed of spread of new epidemics. However, progress in detecting cases and the speed with which treatments have been implemented most often have made it possible to limit their health consequences. From the plagues of Antiquity to the current Covid-19 pandemic, including the Black Death and the Spanish flu, the great past epidemics are reviewed, as well as the number of their victims.