Understanding the Black Death: Europe's Bubonic Plague

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In the years of 1348-1349 (or 1347-1351 if Eastern Europe were to be included), a plague known as The Black Death, the Bubonic Plague, or The Plague was spreading across Europe like wildfire. “The Black Death is the bubonic plague, and it is caused by bad bacteria (Y. Pestis) which lives in the stomachs of fleas that live on rats”, according to “Black Death”. Normally this bacteria would stay in the fleas stomach, but during 1348-1349, they were murderous blood suckers. “the bad bacteria can multiply to the point that the flea gets sick, and when it bites a rat, it vomits the bad bacteria into the rat. Now the rat has the bubonic plague. And because the bad bacteria gets in its blood, every flea that bites the rat will suck the bad bacteria …show more content…

It took ages to recover from the rigor of The Bubonic Plague, “It wasn’t until the 1700’s that Europe again had as many people as it did in the year before the Black Death.”, according to “Black Death”. According to “Depopulation”, “It has been roughly estimated that a third of England died from the Black Death of 1348-1349, and perhaps this figure is not far from the losses suffered in other areas of Europe through which the plague passed.”. The Black Death infected its hosts in three ways, it’s pneumonic form, according to “Black Death”, “easiest to spread because when the bad bacteria are in the lungs, every time that person breathes out, the bad bacteria are released into the air, up to several yards around that person. Anyone that breathes air containing the bad bacteria can then catch the plague”, it’s systemic form, according to “Black Death”, “where the bacteria stays in the blood, was the most deadly, but it didn’t spread… it is thought to be fatal 100% of the time… they never showed any symptoms.” and finally, the buboes, according to “Black Death”, “It seems that most of the time the bad bacteria would get into buboes and they would swell up and become very painful. Within a day or two of the swelling… they would break open and make bad wounds… could cause the skin to die, and when it died, it would turn black-which is why it is known as the Black Death.”. The Black Death may have come in many different forms, which might seem insignificant to us now, but back then, the Black Death was a fatal death certificate, one of which many people had

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