What is the oldest illness in the world?

Leprosy (or Hansen's disease) is considered as one of the oldest infectious diseases ever known in human history: it has been the scourge of humanity since antiquity.
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What is the first disease known to man?

Do You Know The Oldest Disease Known to Humans? It's not the common cold. Nor is it arthritis, malaria, or leprosy. At least according to Healthplex Dental trivia, tooth decay is not only the oldest disease we know of, but also the most common and widespread.
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Is TB the oldest disease?

Tuberculosis is one of the oldest diseases in the history of mankind with evidence of tubercular decay found in some Egyptian mummies from 3000-2400 BC 2. The study of tuberculosis was also known as phthisiatry from phthisis, the Greek term for tuberculosis.
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When did the first diseases start?

Epidemics caused by viruses began when human behaviour changed during the Neolithic period, around 12,000 years ago, when humans developed more densely populated agricultural communities. This allowed viruses to spread rapidly and subsequently to become endemic.
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What old diseases no longer exist?

So far, the world has eradicated two diseases — smallpox and rinderpest.
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The 10 Oldest Diseases In History



What is the only human disease to have been?

Widespread immunization and surveillance were conducted around the world for several years. The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977. In 1980 WHO declared smallpox eradicated – the only infectious disease to achieve this distinction.
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What diseases did early humans get?

These are: tuberculosis (or TB), leprosy, cholera, smallpox, rabies, malaria, pneumonia, trachoma (chronic infection of the eyelid), influenza, measles and the black plaque.
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What was the 1st virus in the world?

Two scientists contributed to the discovery of the first virus, Tobacco mosaic virus. Ivanoski reported in 1892 that extracts from infected leaves were still infectious after filtration through a Chamberland filter-candle. Bacteria are retained by such filters, a new world was discovered: filterable pathogens.
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What was first virus or human?

Viruses did not evolve first, they found. Instead, viruses and bacteria both descended from an ancient cellular life form. But while – like humans – bacteria evolved to become more complex, viruses became simpler. Today, viruses are so small and simple, they can't even replicate on their own.
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What is the first virus?

Tobacco plants are damaged sometimes with mosaic-like patterns on the leaves. These patterns are caused by the tobacco mosaic virus, which at the end of the 19th century became the first virus ever discovered.
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Why is tuberculosis called white death?

In the 1700s, TB was called “the white plague” due to the paleness of the patients. TB was commonly called “consumption” in the 1800s even after Schonlein named it tuberculosis. During this time, TB was also called the “Captain of all these men of death.”
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Is tuberculosis still fatal?

Not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick. As a result, two TB-related conditions exist: latent TB infection (LTBI) and TB disease. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.
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Does TB stay for life?

Tuberculosis has been held to be a life-long infection by most who study the disease, with this concept playing an important role in TB elimination efforts by WHO and national organizations.
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Which disease has no cure?

cancer. dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease. stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.
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How did cavemen deal with diseases?

Plant materials (herbs and substances derived from natural sources) were among the treatments for diseases in prehistoric cultures.
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What is the ancient disease?

Several ancient diseases that even exist or of which case reports could be found are Gout, Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Pneumococcal disease, Measles, Pertussis, Diphtheria, Chickenpox, Poliomyelitis, Leishmaniasis, Cholera, Lyme disease, Inanition, Ergotism, Pharyngitis, Smallpox, Trachoma, Leprosy, Typhoid fever, Plague, ...
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What came before viruses?

To date, no clear explanation for the origin(s) of viruses exists. Viruses may have arisen from mobile genetic elements that gained the ability to move between cells. They may be descendants of previously free-living organisms that adapted a parasitic replication strategy.
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Who is father of virus?

Martinus Willem Beijerinck (1851-1931) first discovered a pathogen that was smaller than a bacterium. He called it a virus and is therefore the father of virology. Martinus Willem Beijerinck (1851-1931) first discovered a pathogen that was smaller than a bacterium.
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Who created first virus?

As noted by Discovery, the Creeper program, often regarded as the first virus, was created in 1971 by Bob Thomas of BBN. Creeper was actually designed as a security test to see if a self-replicating program was possible.
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What was the first coronavirus name?

COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread worldwide. The coronavirus was officially named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses based on phylogenetic analysis.
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What is the biggest viruses?

Discovery of the Giant Mimivirus. Mimivirus is the largest and most complex virus known. Is it an evolutionary bridge between nonliving viruses and living organisms, or is it just an anomaly? Viruses are small and fairly simple.
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Which virus is the smallest virus?

Adenovirus is the smallest virus and Mycoplasma is the smallest bacteria. Both bacteria and viruses are contagious organisms that lead to many diseases in both plants and animals.
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When were humans at their healthiest?

The Early Middle Ages, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, is often derided as the 'Dark Ages'. But a new study suggests that the middle and lower classes were healthier than their descendants in later centuries – even as late as the 19th-century industrial age.
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Were Stone Age people healthier than we are today?

They had better teeth and less cancer. The most ancient individuals were less likely to have been predisposed to cancer and neurological/psychological conditions.
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What diseases did dinosaurs have?

Dinosaurs suffered from some of the same diseases that afflict humans and animals today including cancer, gout and infections. T. rex was the ultimate dinosaur predator, but it fell victim to the tiniest of foes: parasites.
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