because opossums have a lower body temperature than other mammals, they almost never get rabies.

between 2019 and 2023, 27 million people have died of covid. and counting.

between 1981 and 2022, 33 million people died of hiv/aids.

between 1976 and today (1/20/24), 15,000 people have died of ebola, a flesh-eating disease.

between 1918 and 1920, more than 50 million people worldwide died of the spanish flu.

between 1894 and 1940, 15 million people died of the plague. it was the plague's third global pandemic.

in 1889, 4 million people worldwide died of the russian flu.

between 1865 and 1947, 23 million people in india died of cholera.

in 1748, france passed a law that banned potatoes because french authorities thought that they caused leprosy.

at the time of this writing. more than 3,000 citizens of the u.s. are dying of covid-19 per day.

president bill clinton established the strategic national stockpile of medical supplies after reading a novel about a mad scientist who infected new york city with a virus.

folks in japan have been wearing surgical masks in public for a number of reasons since 1918, but it became commonplace in 2009 with the onset of h1n1. japanese consumers spent us$333 billion on disposable face masks in 1918.

between 1618 and 1648 ad, 60 million europeans died of smallpox.

between 1946 and 1948, american doctors funded by the national institutes of health deliberately infected 1,300 venezuelan citizens with venereal diseases. at the same time, the u.s.was trying nazi scientists in nuremberg for carrying out unethical experiments.

one of the doctors involved, john cutler, would later go on to infect black american soldiers with syphilis without their knowledge in order to see what happened to them over time.

in addition to the spread of diseases brought to the americas by white settlers, which decimated 95% of the native american population, the united states government conducted 40 official wars against native americans, which killed an estimated 45,000 more.

currently, an hiv-infected 20-year-old in the u.s. who follows proper retroviral therapy has a life expectancy of an additional 51.4 years.

the 'common cold' is actually a set of symptoms caused by any of more than 100 different viruses. (that's why it can't be cured.)

the most common disease in the u.s. is tooth decay.

if you are diagnosed with a disease that affects 1 in 1,000 people, and the test that is used to determine whether or not someone has the disease works 98% of the time (surprise! no test works 100% of the time), the odds of the test being wrong are higher than the odds that you have the disease. that's why your doctor will have the test performed more than once - to make sure that the error is more likely than the disease. this may also be why some folks report 'miracle cures' - simply not understanding how medical testing works.

more than 80% of all sexually active adults will contract a sexually transmitted disease in their lifetime, even if they are in a committed relationship. most will never know they have it.