Quick Answer: 2014 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2014th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 14th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2010s decade. The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the most widespread outbreak of the Ebola virus in human history, resulting in 28,646 confirmed infections and 11,323 confirmed deaths according to the World Health Organization, who declared it a Public Health Emergency in August. The virus caused major socioeconomic disruption in the region, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Other notable health concerns in 2014 included a significant increase in polio cases in Pakistan. The rise of ISIS became a major geopolitical crisis in 2014 after the group declared a global caliphate and launched devastating offensives in Iraq and Syria.