Chapter 18, Problem 1CT

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The reason that quarantine was not successful in controlling plague.

Introduction:

Plague is caused by a gram-negative bacteria called as Yersinia pestis. It has many phases; in the first phase, there is the occurrence of lymph nodes inflammation (buboes), which is present on neck and in armpits, followed by muscular pain, septicemia, bacteremia, and fever. In the final stage, the disease cause lowers blood pressure, subcutaneous hemorrhaging, lower heart rate, and death of tissues.

Explanation of Solution

Initially, a plaque was spread through sailors, rats, and cargo that arrive from the Eastern Mediterranean. It rapidly spread throughout Italy. To control this disease, a control measure was used such as quarantine, as it involves the isolation of infected persons from non-infected person.

It was an ineffective technique for slowing the spread of emerging infections and it failed because this technique is unable to remove rats from the place where infected people live. Due to this, the disease is continuously spread from one person to another people. Quarantine failed to control the growth of mice that caused this infection. Due to uncontrolled growth of mice, the disease was continuously spreading among the human population even after the infected people were quarantined.

Conclusion

The quarantine is an effective technique to control the spread of plague as it is a contagious disease but it failed because this technique is unable to control the growth of mice that causes this infection. As this infection is spread due to rodents such as a mouse.