Justinian Plague Research Paper

The Black Death Black Death, epidemic of plague which ravaged Europe in the mid-14th century. Various forms of plague were known in the civilized world since ancient times. Greek and Roman historians described outbreaks of an epidemic disease which were sudden and deadly: at Constantinople in the 6th century AD, for example, as much as half the population may have been killed. The outbreak which reached Europe from China in 1347, and spread rapidly and with disastrous results to most countries, has been given the name the Black Death, though contemporaries did not use this term. Epidemiology of the Black

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.

The plague was a catastrophic time in history, and happened more than once. It took millions and millions of people’s lives. It destroyed cities and countries, and many people suffered from 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 pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.

During the late 1330’s in Europe the population was growing dramatically. This caused food shortages, which began to worry the people. The summers and winters were harsh not helping with the crop harvesting. A famine broke out, and it is now known as the famine before the plague. In 1347, the Black Death began spreading across Western Europe. Over the time span of three years, the plague killed roughly one third of the population in Europe. It killed more people than any other epidemic or war up to this time. The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.

The Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, was a severe outbreak of disease that spread in Europe in the 14th century from 1346-1353. The disease spread faster then originally expected of killing only twenty or thirty percent but killed "60 percent of Europe 's population" ( Benedictow). It is believed the population of Europe was around eighty million and that would add up to be fifty million deaths. It was a horrific death for one to experience and can still be found in the world today. The Black Death was a tragic disease that spread through Europe vigorously killing fifty million people and changed European history.

The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence, is the name given to the plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is said to be the greatest catastrophe experienced by the western world up to that time. In Medieval England, the Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge in England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it stroke England another six times by the end of the century.

This second form of the disease is called septicemic plague. Fever, chills, headache, malaise, massive hemorrhaging, and death characterize septicemic plague. The bacterium moves through the bloodstream to the alveolar spaces of the lungs, leading to a suppurating pneumonia or pneumonic plague. “Pneumonic plague is rapidly fatal and is the only type that can be spread from person to person (by droplet spray) without intermediary transmission by flea.” Pneumonic plague is characterized by watery and sometimes bloody mucus containing live bacteria. Coughing and spitting produce airborne droplets full with the highly infectious bacteria, and by inhalation others may become infected. With pneumonic plague death can occur within 24 hours of

A plague is a bacterial infection that can take on more than one form. One of the greatest plagues that have stricken mankind throughout history was the Black Death. The Black Death was the outbreak of the bubonic plague that struck Europe and the Mediterranean area between 1347 and 1351. This plague was the most severe plague that hit the earth because of its origin (the spread), the symptoms, and the effects of the plague.

There have been many catastrophes throughout history, but none of them have had an impact upon society like the infamous Black Death. One of the reasons Black Death was so serious is it can be transmitted in various ways. The catastrophe known as the Black Death has influenced modern society in many ways. Some of the ways Black Death influenced society is economically, socially, and scientifically.

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)

Plague exists worldwide and is responsible for at least 3 pandemics. It is a zoonotic infection primarily maintained in rodents and fleas. Humans are incidental hosts. Plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a pleomorphic, gram-negative, non–spore-forming, coccobacillus that exhibits bipolar staining.

Considered by many to be the greatest pandemic in the history of the world, the Plague is a disease that has ‘plagued’ the world for over a millennia.