There was a significant dip in the population in the 14th c. due to bubonic plague. It is estimated that a third of Europe's population was killed by the plague. Currently, there is a hollowing out of the young adult population in sub-Saharan Africa due to the AIDS epidemic. Tuberculosis is one of the most ancient human diseases. Tuberculosis has had an overwhelming impact on human history.
Tuberculosis is a very unique bacterial disease.
Faeroes are isolated islands. In 1846, a ship from Copenhagen stopped at Faeroes to unload some goods. A sailor on board had measles and the people of Faeroes were infected. Measles was introduced there 65 years earlier and killed many people. Peter Ludwig Panum went to Faeroe Islands to observe the cases of measles and published his findings in 1846.