Many deadly pandemics have originated in China, has been the origin of several major viral diseases over recent decades, It was not just the Covid-19 virus, which emerged a year ago, a few months later, the "Hantavirus", known as "viral lung syndrome", appeared, and now the discovery of the first human infection with the H10N3 strain avian influenza virus.
China has for decades been a source of epidemics from which it has emerged to spread in many countries of the world, whose consequences are catastrophic in those countries, from which recovery is needed for many years.
SARS
The disease occurred in China between 2002 and 2003, which is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome emerged in November 2002 Her first appearance was in the southern Guangdong province, Believed to be from bats, it was apparently transmitted to humans via civet cats sold for meat in wildlife markets.
Also a "coronavirus", so-named because of its crown-like appearance when seen under an electron microscope, SARS was highly contagious and caused acute and sometimes fatal pneumonia, From early 2003 it caused major panic across Asia, mainly in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 12 issued a global health alert.
The SARS epidemic caused 774 deaths worldwide from more than 8,000 infections in around 30 countries. Eighty percent of the victims were in China and Hong Kong.
Bird Flu A(H5N1)
The first hit was in Chinese city Hong Kong in 1997, In the first stage of the disease, 6 local citizens died, It resurfaced in 2003 in Southeast Asia, killing 282 people from 468 infections in 15 countries, according to a WHO toll.
The virus was a major threat for farmed fowl and almost all human cases were among people who had direct contact with infected birds, The virus was a major threat for farmed fowl and almost all human cases were among people who had direct contact with infected birds.
Hong Kong flu
Another virus that spread to China later in 1968, which is a new influenza of the A type—among the three seasonal varieties—started spreading in Hong Kong from July 1968, going on to infect 500,000 people or 15% of the population.
It then moved into the rest of Asia, reaching the United States and Europe weeks later, considered the first pandemic of modern times, its spread was aided by the increase in international air travel, the epidemic spurred major international mobilisation coordinated by the WHO. From November 1968 effective vaccines were developed.
The pandemic is estimated to have killed one million people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Asian flu
Spread between and 1957-1959, dubbed the Asian flu because it emerged in China, killed 2 million people worldwide in a two-year period.
The Asian flu, caused by the H2N2 subtype of the influenza A virus, began in Guizhou province in 1956 and spread to Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States.
Many reasons why virologists have weighted the spread of epidemics in China have been attributed to Dr. Chopperha Pror, an epidemiologist, who has emphasized that the cause of the spread of viruses in China is many living animal markets, which many people in China see lack of health safety in dealing with animals in the manner of their execution or conservation, contributing to the spread of infections immediately after they appear.