The Black Death: Bubonic Plague’s Worst Disaster It has been called “the greatest catastrophe ever.” That statement was made in reference to the Black Death which was one of many bubonic plague epidemics. Throughout history, the bubonic plague proved itself to be an extremely lethal disease. Outbreaks of the bubonic plague were devastating because of the stunning number of deaths in each of the populations it reached. The Black Death was the worst epidemic and disaster of the bubonic plague in all of history. The Black Death refers to a period of several years in which affected populations were decimated. The bubonic plague is a disease started by bacteria. The disease has horrible symptoms, and most of the victims die after getting the plague. The bubonic plague spread easily between different areas of people. The Black Death was not the first epidemic of the bubonic plague; there was another outbreak several hundred years before. It is important to understand the history of the bubonic plague and reflect upon the Black Death because plague outbreaks can still occur today. The actual cause of the Black Death is still debated today, but most historians believe that it was the result of a plague with bacteria. The bubonic plague most likely affected humans with a bacterium that caused many problems. The bacterium that caused the bubonic plague is called Yersinia pestis. A combination of old historical records and details give some evidence that the bubonic plague was indeed caused by this bacteria. Scientists have worked to obtain even more evidence by excavations. Burial sites from the Black Death period were excavated to find the skeletons of plague victims. The skeletons were tested in order to see if the victims had be... ... middle of paper ... ...in the fields of both science and medicine, future epidemics of any disease can be handled better. When a lethal disease begins to rampage a population, research on similar epidemics can help the world contain, cure, and prevent the disease to protect the world and its population. Bibliography Ewen Callaway, “Plague Genome: The Black Death decoded,” Nature, 7370, (2011): 444-446 Kira L. S. Newman, “Shutt Up: Bubonic Plague and Quarantine in Early Modern England,” Journal of Social History, 3, (2012): 809-834 Kirsten I. Bos, Verena J. Schuenemann, et al, “A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death,” Nature, 7370, (2011): 506-510 Mary Lowth, “Plagues, pestilence and pandemics: Deadly diseases and humanity,” Practice Nurse, 16, (2012): 42-46 Ole J. Benedictow, “The Black Death,” History Today, 3, (2005): 42-49
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Show MoreThe 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.
To say people did not know much about the plague was an underestimation. From its origins, to its spread, to its cure, the doctors whose sole task was to treat this notorious slaughterer barely knew more than the poor people they were nursing. They did, on the other hand, recognize the point that it spread rapidly and without any difficulty. Mixtures of onion and butter, arsenic, bits of dried up frog, flower mixtures and even quite a few bloodlettings were unsuccessful in curing the victims. When they seemed closer to dying, the more
The black death was one of the most runious events in history. This event was primed for new modern age around the 15th century that makes it a archaic topic. This untamable paroxysm event resulting deaths estimated 75 to 200 million people. This desiease came about by fleas that came from rats that carried.about in towns and cities from the trade ships. As tge people caught the deadly Bubonic Plague it immediately made tgem feel stultify they felt weak and very close to death. Treatments with different types of medicine theories people still showed no fealty in life anymore. Once you have heard of someone catching this disease you already pretty much knew the results coming behind it. Most people felt as if it was karma l. Even people had
The Bubonic plague or also known as The Black Death was one of the most deadliest diseases of its time. The Bubonic plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. The Black Death killed its victims less than 5 days. Back in the Middle Ages there was no cure for the Black plague, and even today there is no cure, but plenty of antibiotics can make it go away. Some may claim that the Bubonic plague had positive effects on the culture, however not many people died from the Black plague, and the economy was ruined; therefore it had negative effects on political, economic, social, and religious structure.
The Black Death, also know as “bubonic plague” is a disease caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis that spread out to most of Asia, the middle east, and Europe (Benedictow). This outbreak wiped out one-third of the European population placing it under one of the most devastating times in human history. With death tolls adding up and with Europe’s population clustered, the cities growing and sanitation almost nonexistent leads to why Europe was hit the hardest with the plague. Symptoms of the plague caused raging fevers, vomiting and dark painful swellings called “buboes” which caused spots on the skin to turn black and later resulted in death (Book) Villages and cities, rich and poor is wiped out in a matter of days. People panicked and many fled their homes and moved into other cities to keep away from the disease but learned that later spread the disease to their neighbor’s villages and continuing the spread.
There are approximately two people who die every second of every minute of everyday. There are deadly events that generate mass deaths and upsurge mortality. These occurrences are the infamous epidemics. The most deadly of them all is the Black Death which took place in the 14th century. This monster pandemic not only took the lives of millions, but its long lasting effects changed the economy, culture, and religious beliefs.
The Black Death was one of the most destructive epidemics in the history of the world. During the time
One deadly disease that demolished populations is the bubonic plague, also known as the plague or Black Death. It dates back to the early years of 540’s AD, but was known as Justinian plague until the 1300’s when it became known as the Black Death (Hogan, 2014). Yersinia pestis a zoonotic bacteria causes the bubonic plague and obtained its name from Alexandre Yersin, the discoverer (CDC, 2015). It first appeared during the early year of 541 in Egypt and spread to parts of Asia, till it disappeared in the year 750 (Hogan, 2014). It reemerged in the 1340’s in China and then made its way to Persia, Syria, India and Egypt. During 1346-1353 the bacteria coverage extended into Europe and created an epidemic which killed over twenty million people.
It wasn't until 2011 that there was a firm evidence that the Bubonic Plague was the cause of the Black Death. The person who developed the technique to study the remains of the Bubonic Plague was Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University. By studying the plague we will gain more knowledge and will be able to understand it better. Colleagues of Hendriks developed a way to examine Yesinia in the bones of the victims. Hendriks team examined over 200 teeth looking for signs of Yersinia. The best way to understand a plague is to find the roots of it. Studying the plague will help us prevent it from happening
The Black Death was an epidemic outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe around 1348 that killed between one-third and two-thirds of the population in less than five years. The epidemic spanned from China to England to North Africa, transmitted along the Silk Road and other trade routes. There was multiple causes of the black death including their horrible hygiene and the amount of travel, and most importantly the change in climate.The number one cause of the black death was the change in climate causing fleas to seek out alternate hosts and the increase in growth of the bacteria.
Nohl, Johannes. 2006. The Black Death : a chronicle of the plague / compiled by Johannes Nohl from contemporary sources ; translated by C.H. Clarke. n.p.: Yardley, Penn. : Westholme ; Garsington : Windsor [distributor], 2006., 2006.
Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. New York:
There are many names for the disease; The Black Death, The Great Mortality, La Pest. [3]. In today’s world, however, most people know it simply as The Plague. The plague, scientifically known as Yersinia Pestis, is a zoonotic, non-motile, non-spore forming bacteria that is classified in humans in three forms; Bubonic, Septicemic, and Pneumonic plague. [3] The plague pathogen has scarred humanity's history, taking over 85 million lives throughout its raging epidemics. [5]. The plague bacteria has been responsible for a number of outbreaks of high mortality rates throughout the early sixth century and even up until today. [5]. Some of the most violent outbreaks occurred in the sixth, fourteenth,
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.
Much of the evidence lies in the symptoms between the bubonic plague and other plagues that could have been present during this time. The bubonic plague is a disease of three stages. After an incubation of two to eight days after infection, a period usually accompanied by a high fever and flu-like symptoms (Nardo, 15), the second stage begins. This stage, by which the Black Death is supposedly named, is marked by the appearance of buboes (black welts caused by internal bleeding) in and around the lymph nodes, particularly the groin or armpits (C. Kohn, 25). Diarrhea, bloody vomit, and joint pains also play their part in this stage. The final and usually fatal stage takes place between the third and fourth week after i...