Essay On The Bubonic Plague

The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a fatal disease that affected millions of people. Originated from China, the Bubonic Plague spread throughout Europe and made its way to Italy in 1347. (document 1) The Black Death, which covered the body with dark and livid spots, was difficult to treat. No one knew how to treat the disease nor how it began to spread.

The 1300s Bubonic Plague, also known as The Black Death was the greatest epidemic known to mankind. This Plague started in 1347 and proceeded up until 1351, executing an estimated amount of 25 million individuals. It was relatively difficult to keep one from catching this infectious disease. The virus traveled not only through inflicted flea bites, but it was airborne as well. Attacking the rich, the poor, newborns and elders, everybody was an easy target. I firmly believe that the 1300s Bubonic Plague changed the way of world history.

The carriers of this disease were rats and fleas. It first started off with fleas, then fleas would then jump on rats and the rats would give the disease to humans. The disease didn 't harm the fleas and the rats could only take so much without showing ill effects. Rats would get on ships and make everyone on the ships sick. This is how the Plague traveled.

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

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

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).

After 1352, the plague became endemic in England , flaring up routinely and then yearly from 1485 to 1670. Within those two centuries, the plague

How important to England was the C14th plague The Black Death, its cause and when it reached England The 14th century plague, also commonly known as the Black Death, was a disease that affected many parts of Europe. The disease reached England in 1348, believed to have originated from China and spread west along the trade routes across Europe.

After 1352, the plague became endemic in England , flaring up routinely and then yearly from 1485 to 1670. Within those two centuries,

The plague is caused by a bacterium

The bacteria found in the Black Plague is known as Yersinia pestis that is a bipolar and plump, lightly-staining, coccobacillus. Remaining a dangerous threat even today as well as what was previously stated that it is a plausible agent for bioterrorism. And as stated, areas such as America, Asia, and Africa are foci endemic areas. Where wild rodents, such as squirrels and rats, are the sustenance pushing for the spread and infection of the disease. The transmission being from animal-to-animal through fleas and infection to humans through contact or bites. Instances of human-to-human infection are uncommon except for the pneumonic plague, the disease caused by plague bacillus also known as Y pestis. The germ was named after Alexander Yersin who had discovered it in 1894 during a pandemic in China that started in1860. Causing numerous casualties by how fast and effective the disease was spreading, it had seemed that there was no end in

Between 1347 and 1352 nearly twenty-five million Europeans died due to the bubonic plague. The Black Death, or the bubonic plague, was a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis. Some of the symptoms were chills, confusion, vomiting, and the most recognized symptom, the bubo. A bubo is an egg-shaped bulge that normally develops around an infected person’s inner thighs, armpits, and/or neck. The name bubonic plague came from the swelling of the bubos that were filled with dead cells and disease carrying germs. i

The two main causes of the Black Plague were the yersinia pestis and the lack of sanitation. Around 1347, a trading boat arrived in Europe. The Europeans discovered that all the men on board were either dead or very ill. The Europeans did not know what had caused the illness, so none of the passengers were allowed to get off the ship. Little did they know that the rats were the real problem. The rats were carrying the yersinia pestis which is a bacteria that was found in most fleas. The fleas would attach themselves to a “host” which could be a rat or other rodent. After attaching themselves they would bite the host. The disease would be transferred to the rat or another rodent. If their immune system could not fight the bacteria the host would die. When the host would die, the flea would find another host, which could mean a human or another animal. Once infected, the virus would spread from human to human, town to town until many were infected (Benedictow).

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 Black Death, a term coined in the sixteenth century refers to the pandemic that cut Europe’s population nearly in half from 1348-1350. The disease is thought to have come from Central Asia through the trade routes. Taking a ride from the trade ships, black rats, which carry the disease infected fleas, were introduced into European ports. From the ports, the disease eventually spread to the rest of Europe. The disease was caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. This bacteria caused three types of plague, bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. The most common form was the bubonic plague which consisted of buboes in the lymph nodes often appearing black in color from which the name “Black Death” comes from. Because of