Sayyiduna Abu Asib (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Jibril (peace be upon him) came to me with fever and plague. I kept the fever in Madinah and sent the plague to Syria, as martyrdom for my Ummah and as a punishment upon the disbelievers."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / مسند من يعرف بالكنى / 19177