100 Diseases – First Identified / Recognized Historical Milestones

✅ Updated: 20 August 2026

100 Diseases & Their First Identified / Recognized Historical Milestones

Student & Competitive Exam Edition: A corrected, exam-friendly guide to when major diseases were first scientifically identified, clinically recognized, isolated, or historically documented.

APPSCUPSCSSCRRBBankingPolice ExamsGeneral Science

📝 Introduction

Questions about the origin, discovery, first reported outbreak, or first identification of diseases often appear in General Science and Current Affairs preparation. However, a common mistake is to treat every disease as if historians know an exact “first patient, country and year”. For ancient diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, smallpox, leprosy and rabies, that is usually impossible.

This Learn With Mahesh revision post therefore uses the more accurate term historical milestone. Depending on the disease, the table records the first reliable outbreak, scientific description, isolation of the pathogen, recognition of the syndrome, or earliest known evidence.

⚠️ Very Important for Exams:
“First case”, “first identified”, “first described”, “first isolated” and “first outbreak” are not the same thing. Read the Milestone Type column before memorising a year.

🔬 How to Read This Table

First Recognized
The disease was first clearly recognized as a distinct clinical or outbreak entity.

First Identified / Isolated
The virus, bacterium, parasite or other pathogen was first scientifically identified.

Ancient Evidence
The disease existed long before modern medicine, so no exact first patient can be established.

🎯 High-yield modern milestones:
Ebola → 1976   |   HIV/AIDS recognized → 1981   |   Nipah → 1998   |   SARS → 2002   |   H1N1 → 2009   |   MERS → 2012   |   COVID-19 cluster → 31 Dec 2019

📚 100 Diseases – Corrected Historical Milestones

S.No.	Disease	Milestone Type	Place / Year	Exam Note
1	HIV/AIDS	AIDS syndrome first recognized	United States, 1981	Earlier HIV-positive human sample: Kinshasa, 1959; do not call 1959 the first AIDS case.
2	2009 H1N1 influenza	Novel H1N1 detected	United States & Mexico, 2009	Two early laboratory-confirmed infections were detected in California; major outbreaks were recognized in Mexico.
3	COVID-19	Pneumonia cluster reported to WHO	Wuhan, China – 31 Dec 2019	A novel coronavirus was subsequently identified.
4	Ebola virus disease	First recognized outbreaks	Sudan & Zaire (now DRC), 1976	Two major outbreaks occurred close together; the disease was first recognized in 1976.
5	Avian influenza A(H5N1) in humans	First known human infections	Hong Kong, 1997	Important zoonotic influenza milestone.
6	Dengue	First reported epidemics resembling dengue	Asia, Africa & North America, 1779–1780	Severe dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever emerged as a major problem in Southeast Asia in the 1950s.
7	SARS	First cases	Guangdong, China – Nov 2002	SARS spread internationally in 2003.
8	MERS	Virus first identified	Saudi Arabia & Jordan, 2012	MERS-CoV is linked mainly with dromedary camels.
9	Zika virus	Virus first identified	Uganda, 1947	First isolated from a rhesus monkey; first human evidence was reported in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania.
10	1918 influenza pandemic	Pandemic emergence	1918; exact geographic origin uncertain	Avoid stating that the pandemic definitely began in the USA.
11	Cholera	First global pandemic	South Asia, 1817	Cholera was known earlier; 1817 marks the first recognized pandemic.
12	Plague / Black Death	Major medieval pandemic	Eurasia & North Africa, 14th century	The 1346–1353 Black Death is well documented; exact geographic origin remains debated.
13	Smallpox	Ancient evidence	Ancient world; exact first case unknown	Do not assign a precise first country/year.
14	Tuberculosis	Ancient evidence	Ancient populations including Egypt; exact first case unknown	Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified by Robert Koch in 1882.
15	Malaria	Ancient disease; parasite identified	Parasite discovered in Algeria, 1880	Alphonse Laveran identified malaria parasites in human blood.
16	Yellow fever	Early documented epidemics	Americas, 17th century	Exact first case is unknown; yellow fever later became central to mosquito-transmission research.
17	Polio	Ancient evidence; virus isolated	Ancient Egypt; virus work in 1908	Ancient depictions suggest poliomyelitis; Landsteiner and Popper demonstrated viral causation in 1908.
18	Measles	Disease differentiated clinically	Persian/Islamic medical literature, medieval period	Al-Razi distinguished measles from smallpox; exact first case is unknowable.
19	Typhoid fever	Causative organism identified	Germany, 1880	Karl Eberth described the bacillus later known as Salmonella Typhi.
20	Leprosy (Hansen disease)	Ancient evidence	South Asia and other ancient regions	Mycobacterium leprae was identified by Gerhard Armauer Hansen in 1873.
21	Syphilis	First well-documented European epidemic	Europe, 1494–1495	Its deeper geographic origin remains historically debated.
22	Scarlet fever	Recognized as a distinct clinical illness	Europe, 16th–17th centuries	Exact first case cannot be established.
23	West Nile virus	Virus first isolated	Uganda, 1937	Named after the West Nile district of Uganda.
24	Anthrax	Ancient disease; bacterial proof	Germany, 1876	Robert Koch demonstrated Bacillus anthracis as a cause of disease.
25	Rabies	Ancient descriptions	Mesopotamia, ancient period	One of the oldest recorded zoonotic diseases; exact first case unknown.
26	Marburg virus disease	First recognized outbreaks	Germany & Yugoslavia, 1967	Cases were linked to laboratory exposure to African green monkeys imported from Uganda.
27	Mumps	Ancient clinical description	Ancient Greece, 5th century BCE	Hippocrates described an illness consistent with mumps.
28	Rubella	Recognized as a distinct disease	Europe, 18th–19th centuries	Congenital rubella syndrome was linked to maternal infection by Norman Gregg in 1941.
29	Lyme disease	Syndrome first recognized	Connecticut, USA – 1975	Named after Lyme, Connecticut; Borrelia burgdorferi was identified later.
30	Legionnaires’ disease	Outbreak recognized	Philadelphia, USA – 1976	Legionella was identified after the American Legion convention outbreak.
31	Lassa fever	First documented/recognized cases	Nigeria, 1969	Named after Lassa, Nigeria.
32	Hantavirus haemorrhagic fever	Virus isolated	South Korea, 1976	Hantaan virus was isolated after earlier recognition of Korean haemorrhagic fever.
33	Chikungunya	Virus first identified	Tanzania, 1952	The name derives from a Kimakonde word referring to the bent posture caused by severe joint pain.
34	Hepatitis B	Australia antigen discovered	1965	Baruch Blumberg’s discovery became central to identification of hepatitis B virus.
35	Hepatitis C	Virus identified	1989	Previously many cases were called non-A, non-B hepatitis.
36	Hepatitis A	Virus identified in stool by electron microscopy	1973	Important milestone in distinguishing hepatitis A.
37	Q fever	Disease first recognized	Queensland, Australia – 1935	The 'Q' originally stood for 'query'.
38	Rocky Mountain spotted fever	Disease recognized / vector research	USA, late 19th–early 20th century	Howard T. Ricketts made major discoveries on transmission in the early 1900s.
39	Nipah virus disease	Virus first identified	Malaysia, 1998	First identified during an outbreak among pig farmers; later outbreaks occurred in Bangladesh and India.
40	Yaws	Ancient treponemal disease	Tropical regions; exact first case unknown	A precise first country/year is not historically supportable.
41	Onchocerciasis (river blindness)	Parasite described	Africa, 1890s	Caused by Onchocerca volvulus and transmitted by blackflies.
42	Trachoma	Ancient evidence	Ancient Egypt and elsewhere	Exact first case unknown; the causative agent is Chlamydia trachomatis.
43	Dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease)	Ancient evidence	Ancient Egypt and other regions	One of the oldest known parasitic diseases.
44	Lymphatic filariasis	Ancient evidence	Tropical regions; exact first case unknown	Microfilariae were recognized scientifically in the 19th century.
45	Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar)	Parasite identified	India, 1903	Leishman and Donovan independently described the parasite associated with kala-azar.
46	Trichinellosis	Larvae recognized in human muscle	London, 1835	Later work established the Trichinella life cycle.
47	Cysticercosis	Long-known parasitic infection	Ancient/early medical history; exact first case unknown	Relationship to Taenia solium was clarified scientifically in the 19th century.
48	Schistosomiasis	Parasite described	Egypt, 1851	Theodor Bilharz identified the blood fluke; ancient Egyptian evidence also exists.
49	Tetanus	Ancient clinical description	Ancient Greece	Bacterial causation was established in the late 19th century.
50	Diphtheria	Ancient/early descriptions; bacterium identified	Europe, 1883–1884 for bacterium	Klebs and Löffler are associated with identifying Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
51	Pertussis (whooping cough)	Classic epidemic description	Paris, France – 1578	Guillaume de Baillou gave an early detailed clinical account.
52	Influenza	First well-documented pandemic	1580	Earlier influenza-like epidemics occurred, but 1580 is often cited as the first well-described pandemic.
53	Pneumonia	Ancient clinical descriptions	Ancient Greece and elsewhere	Pneumonia has many causes, so there is no meaningful single 'first case'.
54	Epidemic typhus	Major documented epidemic	Spain, 1489	Earlier typhus-like outbreaks may have occurred.
55	Psittacosis (parrot fever)	Disease recognized	Europe, late 19th century	A major international parrot-associated outbreak occurred in 1929–1930.
56	Scabies	Mite proven as the cause	Italy, 1687	Bonomo and Cestoni linked the itch mite to scabies.
57	Trench fever	Recognized in soldiers	Europe, 1915	Closely associated with body lice and World War I trench conditions.
58	Echinococcosis (hydatid disease)	Long-known parasitic disease	Exact first human case unknown	Its parasite life cycle was clarified in the 19th century.
59	Brugia malayi filariasis	Microfilaria described	Malaya, 1927	An exam-useful milestone for Brugia malayi.
60	Alkhurma haemorrhagic fever	First recognized	Saudi Arabia, 1994	A tick-associated flaviviral haemorrhagic fever.
61	Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever	Syndrome recognized / virus linked	Crimea, 1944; Congo virus isolated 1956	The Crimean and Congo agents were later shown to be the same virus.
62	Rift Valley fever	Disease first identified	Kenya, 1931	A mosquito-borne zoonosis affecting livestock and humans.
63	Chagas disease	Disease and parasite described	Brazil, 1909	Carlos Chagas described the parasite, vector and clinical disease.
64	African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)	Parasite linked to human disease	Africa, early 1900s	Major investigations occurred during severe African sleeping-sickness epidemics.
65	Cutaneous leishmaniasis	Ancient disease; parasite identified	Old World; parasite identified around 1903	Exact first human case is not known.
66	Leptospirosis (Weil disease)	Clinical syndrome described	Germany, 1886	Adolf Weil described the severe icteric form; the organism was isolated later.
67	Mpox (formerly monkeypox)	First human case	Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1970	The virus had first been discovered in captive monkeys in 1958.
68	Acanthamoeba keratitis	First recognized human cases	1973	Later strongly associated with contact-lens exposure in many cases.
69	Human babesiosis	First recognized human case	Yugoslavia, 1957	The USA was not the location of the first known human case.
70	Melioidosis	First described	Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar – 1912	Caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei.
71	Strongyloidiasis	Parasite described	1876, in soldiers returning from Indochina	The original post’s 'Italy 1876' formulation is misleading.
72	Scrub typhus (tsutsugamushi disease)	Long known in Japan; agent characterized	Japan / East Asia, early 20th century	Scrub typhus and tsutsugamushi disease are the same disease, not two separate entries.
73	Japanese encephalitis	Major epidemics / virus isolation	Japan, 1920s–1935	Large outbreaks occurred in the 1920s; virus was isolated in the 1930s.
74	Eosinophilic meningitis due to Angiostrongylus	Human disease recognized	East Asia, 1940s	Exact 'first case' wording varies by historical source.
75	Histoplasmosis	First described	Panama, 1906	Samuel Taylor Darling described the disease; not first described in the USA.
76	Blastomycosis	First described	USA, 1894	A classic North American systemic fungal disease.
77	Coccidioidomycosis	First described case	Argentina, 1892	The first recognized case was described by Alejandro Posadas.
78	Paracoccidioidomycosis	First described	Brazil, 1908	Adolfo Lutz described the disease.
79	Sporotrichosis	First described	USA, 1898	A fungal infection often associated with traumatic inoculation.
80	Cryptococcosis	First human case described	Germany, 1894	Early work involved Busse and Buschke.
81	Mycetoma (Madura foot)	First detailed medical description	Madurai, India – 1842	The name 'Madura foot' reflects this historical connection.
82	Talaromycosis (formerly penicilliosis)	Fungus discovered / human disease recognized	1956 / 1970s	Talaromyces marneffei was first identified in Southeast Asia; natural human infection was recognized later.
83	Aspergillosis	Fungus named / human disease recognized	Aspergillus named 1729; human disease described in 19th century	No single universally accepted 'first case'.
84	Listeriosis	Listeria recognized / human disease described	1920s	Listeria monocytogenes was recognized in animals in 1926 and in human disease soon after.
85	Erysipelas	Ancient clinical disease	Ancient world	Its streptococcal cause was established much later; exact first case unknown.
86	Amoebiasis	Causative amoeba described	Russia, 1875	Fedor Lösch described Entamoeba histolytica in a dysentery patient.
87	Fascioliasis	Parasite known scientifically	18th century onward	Human infection is older; exact first case cannot be reliably assigned.
88	Gnathostomiasis	Parasite / first human disease recognized	Parasite 1836; human case Thailand, 1889	The original 'Thailand 1830' claim is inaccurate.
89	Giardiasis	Giardia first observed	Netherlands, 1681	Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed the organism in his own stool; Lambl described it in 1859.
90	Toxoplasmosis	Parasite discovered	Tunisia & Brazil, 1908	Toxoplasma was discovered independently in animals in both locations.
91	Trichuriasis (whipworm infection)	Ancient infection; parasite classified scientifically	Ancient evidence / 18th century taxonomy	No reliable single first human case.
92	Ascariasis	Ancient parasitic infection	Ancient populations; exact first case unknown	The old claim 'China, 1935' should not be used as the first case.
93	Hookworm disease	Ancylostoma duodenale described	Italy, 1838	Angelo Dubini described the hookworm.
94	Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)	First recognized	United Kingdom, 1986	Commonly known as 'mad cow disease'.
95	Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)	First described	Germany, 1920–1921	Named after Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alfons Maria Jakob.
96	Hendra virus disease	First recognized outbreak	Australia, 1994	A zoonotic paramyxovirus associated with flying foxes and horses.
97	Avian influenza A(H7N9) in humans	First human infections reported	China, 2013	Important emerging-influenza milestone.
98	Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome	First recognized outbreak	Four Corners region, USA – 1993	Distinct from the older haemorrhagic-fever syndrome caused by other hantaviruses.
99	Meningococcal meningitis	First well-described epidemic / bacterium isolated	Geneva, 1805 / 1887	Anton Weichselbaum identified the meningococcus in 1887.
100	Rotavirus	Virus identified in children with gastroenteritis	Australia, 1973	Ruth Bishop and colleagues identified rotavirus particles in intestinal tissue.

🚨 Major Corrections from Common Internet Lists

• HIV/AIDS: 1959 Kinshasa is an early confirmed HIV sample, not the year the AIDS syndrome was first recognized. AIDS was recognized in 1981.
• Dengue: It did not begin in Manila in the 1950s. Dengue-like epidemics were reported in 1779–1780; severe dengue became prominent in Southeast Asia in the 1950s.
• Zika: 1947 Uganda refers to virus isolation from a rhesus monkey; human evidence followed in 1952.
• Ebola: The disease was first recognized in 1976 in both Sudan and Zaire (now DRC), not simply “South Sudan”.
• 2009 H1N1: The early emergence involved both the United States and Mexico; saying “first case Mexico” oversimplifies the detection history.
• Mpox: Virus discovered in monkeys in 1958; first recognized human case in DRC in 1970.
• Histoplasmosis: First described in Panama in 1906, not the USA.
• Coccidioidomycosis: First recognized case was described in Argentina in 1892.
• Mycetoma: The historical description is strongly linked with Madurai, India (1842), giving rise to the term “Madura foot”.
• Scrub typhus = Tsutsugamushi disease: These are the same disease and should not be counted twice.

🧠 Exam Memory Groups

1940s–1970s emerging disease milestones:
Zika 1947 → Chikungunya 1952 → Human babesiosis 1957 → Marburg 1967 → Lassa 1969 → Mpox human case 1970 → Rotavirus 1973 → Lyme 1975 → Ebola 1976 → Legionnaires 1976.

Modern respiratory / zoonotic milestones:
Nipah 1998 → SARS 2002 → H1N1 2009 → MERS 2012 → H7N9 2013 → COVID-19 2019.

📝 10 Important MCQs

1. In which year was the AIDS syndrome first recognized?

A. 1959B. 1976C. 1981D. 1989

✅ Show Answer

Answer: C – 1981. A 1959 Kinshasa sample is important as early evidence of HIV infection, but AIDS was recognized as a syndrome in 1981.

2. Ebola virus disease was first recognized in major outbreaks in 1976 in:

A. India and NepalB. Sudan and ZaireC. Kenya and UgandaD. Nigeria and Ghana

✅ Show Answer

Answer: B – Sudan and Zaire (now DRC).

3. Zika virus was first identified in 1947 in:

A. BrazilB. UgandaC. IndiaD. Mexico

✅ Show Answer

Answer: B – Uganda. The 1947 isolation was from a rhesus monkey; human evidence came later.

4. Nipah virus was first identified during an outbreak in:

A. Malaysia, 1998B. India, 2001C. Bangladesh, 2004D. Singapore, 2005

✅ Show Answer

Answer: A – Malaysia, 1998.

5. SARS was first recognized in Guangdong, China, in:

A. 1998B. 2002C. 2009D. 2012

✅ Show Answer

Answer: B – 2002. The first cases occurred in Guangdong in mid-November 2002.

6. MERS-CoV was first identified in 2012 mainly in which region?

A. South AmericaB. Saudi Arabia and JordanC. Southern AfricaD. Australia

✅ Show Answer

Answer: B – Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

7. Chikungunya virus was first identified in 1952 in:

A. TanzaniaB. ThailandC. IndiaD. Malaysia

✅ Show Answer

Answer: A – Tanzania.

8. Lyme disease was first recognized as a distinct syndrome in 1975 in:

A. TexasB. CaliforniaC. ConnecticutD. Florida

✅ Show Answer

Answer: C – Connecticut, USA. It takes its name from Lyme, Connecticut.

9. The first human case of mpox was recognized in 1970 in:

A. Democratic Republic of the CongoB. UgandaC. NigeriaD. Kenya

✅ Show Answer

Answer: A – Democratic Republic of the Congo.

10. WHO was informed of a pneumonia cluster in Wuhan that later became associated with COVID-19 on:

A. 31 December 2019B. 1 January 2019C. 11 March 2020D. 30 January 2020

✅ Show Answer

Answer: A – 31 December 2019.

🎯 Quick Revision Points

• AIDS recognized: USA – 1981.
• Ebola: Sudan & Zaire – 1976.
• Zika: Uganda – 1947 (monkey); human evidence – 1952.
• Chikungunya: Tanzania – 1952.
• West Nile virus: Uganda – 1937.
• Lassa fever: Nigeria – 1969.
• Marburg: Germany & Yugoslavia – 1967.
• Nipah: Malaysia – 1998.
• SARS: Guangdong – 2002.
• MERS: Saudi Arabia/Jordan – 2012.
• Mpox human case: DRC – 1970.
• COVID-19 initial WHO-reported cluster: Wuhan – 31 Dec 2019.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can we know the exact first case of every disease?

No. For ancient diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, smallpox and rabies, the exact first infected person and date cannot be established.

2. Is 1959 the first AIDS case?

No. A 1959 Kinshasa blood sample is important evidence of early HIV infection. The AIDS syndrome itself was first recognized in 1981.

3. Where was Ebola first recognized?

Ebola disease was first recognized in 1976 during outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

4. What is the difference between first identified and first human case?

A pathogen may be discovered first in an animal or laboratory sample and only later identified in a human. Zika and mpox are good examples.

5. Why does this post avoid many exact ancient dates?

Because assigning a single modern country and year to an ancient disease can create false certainty. Competitive-exam notes should distinguish archaeological evidence from scientific discovery.

📚 Reliable Sources for Students

1. World Health Organization (WHO) – disease fact sheets, outbreak histories and global health timelines.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – MMWR archives, disease histories and outbreak records.
3. NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine – historical and peer-reviewed biomedical literature.
4. WHO – History of Zika Virus.
5. WHO – Nipah Virus Fact Sheet.
6. WHO – Chikungunya Fact Sheet.
7. CDC – History of Ebola Outbreaks.

🧠 Conclusion

Disease-history questions become much easier when students stop memorising doubtful “first case” lists and instead learn the correct type of milestone. Modern emerging infections usually have well-recorded discovery dates, while ancient infections often do not. For competitive exams, prioritise the high-confidence milestones in this post and pay special attention to the distinction between first evidence, first human case, first recognized outbreak and first identification of the pathogen.

✅ Final Exam Memory Point:
Zika 1947 → Chikungunya 1952 → Marburg 1967 → Lassa 1969 → Mpox human case 1970 → Ebola 1976 → AIDS recognized 1981 → Nipah 1998 → SARS 2002 → H1N1 2009 → MERS 2012 → COVID-19 cluster 2019.

Educational revision content. Historical disease origins are often uncertain; entries are framed by the strongest identifiable milestone rather than unsupported “first case” claims. Updated on 20 August 2026.

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