21st century

==Pandemics and epidemics==
[[File:WHO in PPE.jpg|thumb|[[Western African Ebola virus epidemic]]]]
[[File:US timeline. Number of overdose deaths from all drugs.jpg|thumb|U.S. yearly overdose deaths. More than 70,630 Americans died from [[drug overdose]]s in 2019.]]
* 2002–2004 – [[SARS|Severe acute respiratory syndrome]] (SARS) spreads to many countries in the [[2002–2004 SARS outbreak]].
* 2009 – [[Influenza A virus subtype H1N1]] spreads around the world, becoming a [[2009 swine flu pandemic|global pandemic]].
* 2014 – [[Ebola virus]] spreads in west Africa, prompting the then-largest epidemic, with more than 20,000 cases. The first cases outside Africa are reported.
* 2019–2023 – A [[COVID-19 pandemic|worldwide pandemic]] caused by the [[SARS-CoV-2|SARS-CoV-2 virus]] takes place. It leads to widespread [[Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic|social]] and [[Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic|economic]] disruption and, as of February 2024, more than [[COVID-19 pandemic deaths|7 million reported deaths]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 January 2024 |title=WHO COVID-19 Dashboard |url=https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206183245/https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c |archive-date=6 February 2024 |access-date=6 February 2024 |website=WHO}}</ref> However, it is estimated that around 18.2 to 33.5 Million people may have died in the Pandemic.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 October 2022 |title=The Pandemic's True Death Toll |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates |access-date=26 July 2023 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>