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The Black Death : Research Due Friday 16

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The Black Death
Research due Friday 16 Oct
Focus Questions
Origin
• Where did the black death originate o Where was the first known case of the black death
• Were there any other milder cases of the black death before the pandemic
• What were the other theories as to the origins of the black death
Symptoms
• What were the symptoms of the black death o What effect did this have on people in medieval times
 What mental impact did this have on the people seeing the infected
• Why were there three forms of the plague o What individual effect did this have on peoples o Could you get all three forms
 If so, what were your chances of survival
Human causes
• What part did humans play in the pandemic o Travel
 Did the way humans migrate and …show more content…

• May have originated from Lake Issyk-Kul, in north eastern Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia.
What was the Black Death?
• Three different diseases in one, explained below.
There was no known cure at the time.
Symptoms
• The disease was caused by the virus Yersinia Pestis
• There are three versions o Bubonic Version
 The bacteria infected the lymphatic system (tonsils, spleen, thymus & adenoids)
• Fever, headache, chills, weakness as well as developing buboes o Pneumatic version
 trouble breathing, chest pain, cough, fever, headache, overall weakness, bloody sputum (saliva and mucus or pus from the lungs) o Septicemic Version
 “Fever, chills, weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding underneath the skin or other organs. Buboes, however, do not develop.” – MedicineNet.com
• The symptoms could pass unseen for several days
• Would most likely kill
• The bacteria travelled in white blood cells and multiplied in the lymph nodes o This cause the lymph nodes to swell into the buboes o It could then spread through the blood stream
NOTE: LYMPH NODES ARE PART OF THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM WHICH INCLUDES THE SPLEEN AND THYMUS. THEY ARE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SWELLING OCCURS.
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM: THE NETWORK OF VESSELS THROUGH WHICH LYMPH DRAINS FROM THE TISSUES INTO THE BLOOD. – OXFORD ONLINE DICTIONARIES
Transmission
• Blood to blood o See Additional Causes
• Airborne o One particular strain of the disease – pneumonic plague o The disease could be transmitted when the host coughs

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