The Third Plaque Pandemic

Bubonic plague in China was thought to have first spread from Yunnan region of southwest China which, itself, is likely to have been infected by transmissions over the trade routes from India.

The Third Plague Pandemic caused multiple outbreaks since 1772. It spreading beyond China’s borders after it reached the southeast coast. This plague spread from Yunnan Province in 1867 to Beihai on the coastline. It was then observed in Taiwan Province in 1869 and Hainan Island in 1882.

It was then carried by ships to Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the Indian subcontinent. Over the next few years, plague spread to many cities around the world: Bombay, Singapore, Alexandria, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu, San Francisco and Sidney, among others.

Plague spread widely in India where it caused nearly 13 million deaths and claimed many victims in a number of other countries. There was a total of 22 million people died by this single disease.

The earliest known European cases occurred in September and October 1896, when two sailors from Bombay died of plague on ships docked in London on the Thames.

The plague in Hong Kong was instrumental in discovering the bacillus and hence laying the foundation for finding an effective cure. In 1894, during the Hong Kong epidemic, Alexandre Yersin first isolated the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the pathogen causing plague.
The Third Plaque Pandemic