7. Influenza
During a typical flu season, up to 500,000 people worldwide will die from the illness, according to the World Health Organization. But occasionally, when a new flu strain comes out, a pandemic occurs with a faster spread of disease and, quite often, higher mortality rates. The most deadly flu pandemic, sometimes called the Spanish flu, began in 1918 and sickened up to 40 percent of the world’s population, killing an estimated 50 million people.
“I think that it is possible that something like the 1918 flu outbreak could occur again,” Muhlberger said. “If a new influenza strain found its way in the human population, and could be transmitted easily between humans, and caused severe illness, we would have a big problem.”
