| Name | Time Period | Type/Pre-Human Host | Death Toll |
| Antonine Plague | 165–180 | Believed to be smallpox or measles | 5 million |
| Plague of Justinian | 541–542 | Yersinia pestis bacteria/rats, fleas | 30–50 million |
| Japanese Smallpox Epidemic | 735–737 | Variola major virus | 1 million |
| Black Death | 1347–1351 | Yersinia pestis bacteria/rats, fleas | 200 million |
| New World Smallpox Outbreak | 1520 onwards | Variola major virus | 56 million |
| Great Plague of London | 1665 | Yersinia pestis bacteria/rats, fleas | 100,000 |
| Italian Plague | 1629–1631 | Yersinia pestis bacteria/rats, fleas | 1 million |
| Cholera Pandemics 1–6 | 1817–1923 | V. cholerae bacteria | 1+ million |
| Third Plague | 1885 | Yersinia pestis bacteria/rats, fleas | 12 million (China and India) |
| Yellow Fever | Late 1800s | Virus/Mosquitos | 100,000–150,000 (U.S.) |
| Russian Flu | 1889–1890 | Believed to be H2N2 (avian origin) | 1 million |
| Spanish Flu | 1918–1919 | H1N1 virus/Pigs | 40–50 million |
| Asian Flu | 1957–1958 | H2N2 virus | 1.1 million |
| Hong Kong Flu | 1968–1970 | H3N2 virus | 1 million |
| HIV/AIDS | 1981–present | Virus/Chimpanzees | 25–35 million |
| SARS | 2002–2003 | Coronavirus/Bats, civets | 770 |
| Swine Flu | 2009–2010 | H1N1 virus/Pigs | 200,000 |
| Ebola | 2014–2016 | Ebola virus/Wild Animals | 11,000 |
| MERS | 2015–present | Coronavirus/Bats, camels | 850 |
| COVID-19 | 2019–present | Coronavirus/Unknown (possibly bats) | 1.9 million (as of Jan 10, 2021) |