I felt I had to include measles as one of the epidemics that use to ravage human populations. In fact, the measles had a significant outbreak in the United States just last year, in 2019.

Now commonly thought of as a childhood disease, measles is highly contagious. Nine out of ten people who are exposed will contract the disease. It is airborne and is spread by infected droplets from coughs or sneezes. Although not as lethal as smallpox (the subject of my next post), it can cause death and/or blindness.

Contracting the disease usually confers lifelong immunity.

The most obvious symptom is a red rash that begins on the abdomen. It is flat red spot that I can tell you from personal experience itches like crazy. Now there is an effective vaccine to prevent the illness.

Like many of the diseases that afflict humans (including Ebola and the coronaviruses), measles mutated from rinderpest and jumped to humans. Unlike TB or smallpox, which both have a long human history, measles is fairly recent. One source lists the first recorded mention of measles as 500 AD.

Next up: smallpox.