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Chinese plague. Historical image of people using a cart to remove dead bodies during an outbreak of plague in China. This outbreak became what is now known as the Third Pandemic. It began in Yunnan province, China, in 1855 and spread to all inhabited continents, ultimately killing more than 12 million people in India and China alone. The World Health Organisation considered the pandemic active until 1959. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)