Spatiotemporal changes of epidemics and their relationship with human living environments in China over the past 2200 years

Epidemics are biological disasters resulting from the widespread occurrence of acute and severe infectious diseases that are normally caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites.They are amongst the most destructive of all natural disasters suffered by humans (Gong, 2019). The pathogens that cause epidemics have always existed in nature, understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of past epidemics is important for preventing and controlling future epidemics.