Bubonic Plague Research Paper

The Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history. It was first discovered 550 years later in the 1800s by Alexandre Yersin, a french biologist. In his honor, the plague was named Yersinia Pestis. The plague traveled in two major ways. Yersin discovered that it traveled by infected fleas; the flea would attempt to feed on a human or animal and would then regurgitate the disease into the new host, further spreading the illness. Urban areas across Europe were populous with rats, which were one of the main hosts of the plague. These rodents spread the Black Death throughout cities in days. The unaffected still were not safe if they did not come in contact with an infected flea or rat. The plague also traveled pneumonically, or through the air. It caused large boils full of blood and pus, which would pop and spread. Another symptom was coughing, which was one of the many ways of proliferation. The disease eventually spread throughout Europe and killed a third of it’s population. It’s wrath caused many shortages, loss in hope, riots, and even some good things, such as many changes in art, science, and education. Therefore, the Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history.

75 to 200 million people died from the Bubonic Plague it was estimated about 2\3 of the European population died. Bubonic Plague hurts the Immune system by attacking an invading it. The only way to stop the Bubonic plague is by antibiotics and prescription drugs that destroy the virus. If not treated it will enter the bloodstream and attacks the lungs. Which could give the body Pneumonic plague which is deadly and the Pneumonic plague will give people hepatitis which will give the body fatigue and muscle weakness. The cells in the body system fights off bad pathogens. It keeps the body from getting infected with viruses and diseases like the flu. The Bubonic plague entered the Immune System by changing it form to disguise itself so it will let it in when it is in the Immune System. It attacks by shutting it down and kills cells inside. So the body cannot fight it off. Then it enters the bloodstream and without the immune system it cannot be stopped because the immune system fights off the virus. And without it fighting off viruses the body is prone to any diseases and viruses like the t cell which keeps the flu virus away from the body. And the Bubonic plague kills the t cell which now it is prone to the flu. And it also attacks the b cell which makes antibodies which helps the body become healthier and safer.

The roots of this fearsome plague are very chilling to think about knowing that a mere flea can be the cause of the bubonic plagues epidemic. The more specific medical or scientific term for this disease is Yersinia Pestis. This was named after the doctor, Alexandre Yersin, who isolated the bacteria in 1894 during the pandemic that began in China in the 1860’s. The earliest traces of Y Pestis can be found all the way back to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia in the 1320’s. The cause of the sudden eruption is yet to be solved but the earliest major toll it has taken in our history books is in China in the 1330’s during the expansion of trade in the middle and high

In the 14th century the Black Death engulfed Europe killing an estimated 50 million people. The pandemic is considered extraordinary because it did so in a matter of months. This disease was carried by fleas, the Bubonic Plague is caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis, found mainly in rodents, in this case in rats, and the fleas that feed on them.

What is the plague? The plague or referred to as the Black Death, according to the CDC (2015), “is a disease that affects humans and other mammals and caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria. Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague”. There are three categories of a plague. There is the bubonic plague, which is the most common form. With this form bacteria infects the lymph system and causes it to become inflamed. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, headache, chills, and swollen and tender lymph nodes, which are called buboes. Then there is the Septicemic, which occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Also, skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially fingers, toes and the nose (CDC, 2015). Then there is the Pneumonic Plague, which is the most serious form of plague and occurs when Y. pestis bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia (NIH, 2015). This is the only form of the plague that can be transmitted human to human. Symptoms of this form of the plague are ever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly

Why was the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) so Devastating to European Society? The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, was a huge epidemic in the mid-1300s. It killed off about 20 million Europeans within 1348 and 1351and was thought to originate from China and move westwards through means of infected fleas and rats through shipping and trade (Document 1).

The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death. No one ever knew exactly how many died, just that there were too many to keep track of. The plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis, originally dwelling in the soil it spread to the burrowing rodents. Fleas which clung to the rodents leeched out their bacteria infected blood, thus transferring the host of the bacteria to the flea. The fleas would then proceed to bite a human, giving them the bacteria of the dreaded plague (Doc E). Even today we do not know exactly where the plague originated from. What we do know is that the plague entered Europe through Italian merchants from the city of Caffa(Kaffa). The Italian merchants were there and also the local Mongols of the area, they

The Bubonic plague was incredibly devastating during the medieval times. Lots of people lost their families to this horrible disease. It was very difficult to live during that time knowing that you were probably going to die too, or that you would have to suffer through the death of friends and relatives. There wasn't really anything that you could to prevent yourself from catching the plague, people had no hope or faith that things would get better, they thought it

The causes of the Black Death – the flea, the rat, and the bacillus Yersinia pestis– have been labeled the “unholy trinity” (Boeckl). The flea is able to live in environmental conditions of about 74° Fahrenheit and 60% humidity (Ibid). Before the Black Death reached Europe, they were experiencing those same types of weather conditions. The rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis and the human flea, Pulex irritans, are both capable of transmitting plague (Boeckl). Sometimes, an infected flea cannot ingest blood because Yersinia pestis obstructs its digestive tract. The blockage causes a flea to regurgitate into a bitten host rather than ingest the host’s blood, thereby infecting the host with plague (Boeckl). Unable to eat, the famished flea will bite with more frequency, accelerating the spread of plague. A flea can be carrying Yersinia pestis without it blocking the flea’s digestive tract, in which case the flea does not transmit plague when it bites a host. Also, Yersinia pestis can only enter a victim through a bite, as the bacilli cannot pass through intact skin (Gottfried).

When Bubonic Plague visited England in 1348, it was called the Great Mortality. We know it as the Black Death that lasted until 1352 and killed vast populations in Asia , North Africa , Europe , Iceland , and Greenland . In total, it extinguished as much as fifty percent of the world's population.

The Bubonic Plagues a highly lethal infection caused by the microbe Yersinia pestis. This plague is most commonly associated with the plague of the 14th century, when it wiped out nearly half of the entire European population. The Bubonic Plague spread rapidly throughout Europe and was an often fatal illness, characterized by enlarged lymph nodes with pus filled buboes, gangrene, septicemia, and severe lung infections, followed by the quick onslaught of death. The Black Plague is the worst natural disaster in European History. The plagues devastation impacted all aspects of European life and was the turning point from medieval to modern Europe. The incidence and virulence of the plague decreased over the years and became limited to certain areas by the end of the 20th century. However, the black plague has recently re-emerged around the world. The expanded knowledge from genetic research has introduced the threat of multidrug resistance and a modern day pandemic of the “Black Death.”

Plagues are basically diseases that meant to kill all humans that came in contact with many years ago and even today.Talking about famous plagues, it reminds me of the black plague also called the bubonic plague in the 1300's that took the lives of millions in Europe, the great plague of London that was caused by some kind of rat infestation infecting the food and the plague in China's Yunnan province that also spread to India also killing millions of people.These plagues are all part of the Black Plague as it has the same parasite invoilved.Also,Vector-Borne diseases are infections transmitted by the bite of infected arthropod species, such as mosquitoes, ticks ,sandflies , etc. It is beleved that the Balck plague was caused by fleas infected with a bacteria called Yersinia pestis or by rats infected with these bacteria carrying fleas to humans then we can make a claim that the Black Plague was a kind of Vector-Borne disease.

Bubonic plague is an infectious disease that is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. These bacteria remain in a dormant state primarily in a rat flea’s foregut. Once the flea has bitten a victim it regurgitates the contents in its foregut into the bite location. Once the bacterium has entered into a mammal’s warm body it begins to reproduce and spread throughout the mammal’s body. The reproduction of this bacterium creates large painful swollen lymph nodes which are called buboes. Once these buboes get large enough they begin to ooze infected body fluid so that any contact between an infected person and a healthy person will facilitate the spread of this disease. (The Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012)

The infectious disease known as “the Plague” is spread by a bacterium classified as Yersinia pestis, which is usually transmitted in the bites of fleas or infected animals or people.

The Bubonic Plague and a variation called the septicemic plague was spread throughout Europe by oriental rats that carried infected fleas. Little is known to why the infection never seemed to affect the carrier rats. Infected fleas were being starved by the infection, so they began feasting upon the people they came into contact with. These fleas coming into contact with any human being would infect the human with the disease. These people were now carriers of the Bubonic plague or Black Death. These infected people would then spread the disease by coughing or coming into direct contact with another human being. However, this disease, since not being transmitted via rat would now be called the Pneumonic Plague. (www.insecta-inspecta.com).