According to the CNN article, Madagascar has had an outbreak of pneumonic plague that has killed 124 people. The article cites that the increase of the incidence of the plague is due to funerary customs of unburying dead relatives and dancing with them. The public health challenge is reducing the incidence of the plague in Madagascar and treating the cases of the plague that have occurred. Another part of this public health challenge is to reduce the incidence of disease, while also being respectful of the populations’ funerary customs. This is a public health concern because pneumonic plague is easily transmitted through droplets and can be spread quickly. According to the World Health Organization, this issue influences population health
Plague is a song that was released in 2012 by the Canadian, electropunk, witch-house group known as Crystal Castles. The song’s lyrics make strong allusions to the infamous Bubonic Plague or Black Death. The Bubonic Plague was a horrible disease that was spread in the 1300s by the fleas of infected rats. In the 13th century a third of the people in Europe died of this illness (http://www.livescience.com/36060-people-catch-plague.html).This disease still exists today; however, since the Bubonic Plague is the result of a bacterial infection, it is easily treatable with antibiotics (http://www.livescience.com/36060-people-catch-plague.html). It is tragic that, in the past, they did not have the basic medical knowledge to combat a bacterial infection;
The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague is perhaps the greatest and horrifying tragedies to have ever happened to humanity. The Plague was ferocious and had such a gruesome where people would die in such a morbid fashion that today we are obsessed with this subject.
From 1347 to 1350, the Black Death hit Northern Europe. Although, this was not the first time this type of disease was record. The plague was documented to have affected North Africa and the Middle East during the Classical Time. There are several speculations that this certain type of virus had been the cause of other epidemics, such “the pestilence described as striking the Philistines in the biblical book of 1 Samuel” (plague 9) although this is not verified. When it hit Europe in the 14th century, the main cause was black rats and fleas that carried the virus, as well as the disease being spread by poor sanitary. During this time period, about “one-fourth to one-third of the total population of Europe, or 25 million persons” (plague 10) died. The infected black rats were believed to have been carried over by Central Asian trade routes, fleas are believed to have become infected by biting an already infected rat. How a person would get infected was in two ways; either, normally one was bitten by a tainted flea or rat and unfortunately, the virus could live in the host indefinitely. Once a person became infected, it wouldn’t take too long for those around them to also become infected. Not only was the plague spread by rats and fleas, but the disease was insa...
“The Black Death was a combination of bubonic, pneumonic, and septicaemic plague strains. It 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.” Bubonic plague is spread by the bite of a flea that has bitten a rat that carries the bacteria that causes the plague, this form is rarely contagious, and death comes about a week after the initial infection. Pneumonic plague, however, is very easily spread from person to person. It also had a mortality rate of about 50% in its bubonic form and 100% in the pneumonic and septicaemic strains.
In the 1300’s, England was struck with a plague called the Bubonic Plague, better known as the “Black Death.” Historians believe this disease arrived by ship at a seaport in modern day Ukraine (Byrne 1). Fleas living on the back of rats were the main cause of spreading. Because of the poor living conditions, rats were very common in towns, making it simple for fleas to bite the human, giving them the disease. Symptoms were easily spotted; the victim would have lumps on his or her groin and armpits, which would then turn to black spots on the arms and thighs (Trueman 1). Most who suffered form this epidemic did not live past three days (Trueman 1). Because the vermin spread this disease so rapidly, it would eventually affect most of Europe. The source of the Black Death was unknown at the time; therefore physicians could not stop the spread or treat the infected (Byrne 1). Many people thought that it was God’s punishment, so to appease Him, they publicly whipped themselves (Byrne 1). Before declining, the Black Death killed around forty percent of the European populations, which is about 25 million victims, making it one of the most widely known epidemics. Once the Bubonic Plague died out, it only had two...
Diseases like the Bubonic Plague can be very deadly and hurt the society. The Bubonic Plague was a very devastating disease in the mid 1300s. It lasted about 6 or 7 years, and killed nearly 50% of the European population.The disease was believed to have started in China and went down the European trade route. Also one theory is that enemy’s would catapult infected carcasses into other enemies villages. And people in the villages didn’t have anything to stop the disease from spreading so it would wipe out entire villages.(document 1)
From 166 A.D. to 180 A.D., The Antonine Plague spread around Europe devastating many countries. This epidemic killed thousands per day and is also known as the modern-day name Smallpox. It is known as one of deadliest plagues around the world.
One of the largest epidemic events in history, the Bubonic Plague had a devastating effect on European society. It is believed to have begun in China, and it reached European soil in 1347, when it struck Constantinople (Document 1). It was carried by infected fleas that spread the disease between humans and rats. A symptom of the plague was the development of large, dark swellings called “buboes” on the victim’s lymph nodes. By the time the plague left, Europe’s population had been reduced by almost half. The devastation as a result of the plague may seem shocking, but there were several important factors that contributed to its deadliness.
As you may figure viral deadly diseases such as malaria, HIV, and Lung Cancer have killed millions within the years of Human existence, but the one in particular to cause a major impact in the world’s history of sicknesses is The Black Death, formally known as the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague wasn’t the longest epidemic. The timeline that the disease was present, single handedly slaughtered 25 million people of the vulnerable population in Europe. The childhood nursery rhyme song “Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies”, discreetly demonstrates the red rash symptomatic of infection and holding flowers under one's nose to combat the smell of sickness and dead bodies.(Ainsworth 64) The symptoms of the disease were airborne and highly contagious and could spread viciously to whomever that came in touching distance of an infected individual. The Black Death put SARS and AIDS in a lower caparison inquiring that they all have caused a death domino effect.(Ainsworth 64) The year of 1333 is when the plague originally geared up into severe sweeps starting in China with the international trading route occurring between constantinople and the mediterranean near the black sea. The living conditions people lived under helped the spread of the disease greatly.
The appearance of the Bubonic Plague in Europe in the 14th century was the cause of a disastrous period of change in European culture and lifestyle. The Bubonic Plague ravaged Europe, killing over 60 percent of the population and is the cause of a series of political, economic and social upheavals. The effects of the plague on the decimated populations in Europe was the cause of a mass questioning of the effectiveness of political and religious authority leaders, a dramatic shift in the wealth of the lower class, and increased persecution and discrimination of Jews and other outlying groups in society.
The pneumonic plague requires no fleas to spread the disease because it travels in the air (Newquist 239). This bacteria lives inside the lungs, destroying tissue (239). The lungs fill with liquid and is spread when infected people cough (239). There is two to four days left of living when this disease is in the body.
Plagues and Peoples. By William H. McNeill. (New York: Anchor Books: A division of Random House, Inc., 1976 and Preface 1998. Pp. 7 + 365. Acknowledgements, preface, map, appendix, notes, index.)
The pneumonic plague is transmitted through any form of infection. There is one to three days inc...
Today the world is plagued with a similar deadly disease. The AIDS epidemic continues to be incurable. In an essay written by David Herlihy, entitled 'Bubonic Plague: Historical Epidemiology and the Medical Problems,' the historic bubonic plague is compared with
Lapaire, Pierre J. "The Plague: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.