The Bubonic Plague: Crisis in Europe and Asia

The Bubonic Plague: Crisis in Europe and Asia

There have been many natural disasters throughout history that have caused great damage physically, emotionally and mentally. The Bubonic Plague is considered by most to be the second worst disaster to have occurred throughout history. It all began in October 1348, when Genoese trading ships dropped anchor at the port of Messina, Sicily. The Ships had come from the Black Sea port of Kaffa (Truitt, 2001). The few of the crew members that were left alive carried with them a deadly disease so perilous that it would ultimately lead to death (Douglass, 1996). The sailors became infected when sick rats from Central Asia boarded their ships and the fleas that were feasting on the rats bit the sailors (Truitt, 2001). It was thought that the disease originated from the Far East and was spread along major trade routes. When it became clear that the ships from east carried the plague, Messina closed its port. The Ships were forced to seek harbor elsewhere around the Mediterranean, which allowed the disease to spread very quickly (Truitt, 2001). This would be the beginning of a very traumatic event that would affect all aspects of European society.

The Bubonic Plague generated from a bacterium called Yersina pestis, which is a one-celled organism that multiplies rapidly once inside its host and produces three types of symptoms, depending on how it is spread (Aberth, 2000). The bacterium that leads to the Bubonic Plague usually is found in the bloodstream of wild black rats. It is then posed to humans by fleas that feed on the blood of rats and then bite humans, in which the bacterium is passed into the human bloodstream (Aberth, 2000). It takes between four and six days for a person infected with the Bubonic Plague to exhibit symptoms (Truitt, 2001). The most common symptom is swellings known as buboes (hence bubonic) that appear in the lymph glands near the initial flea bite (Douglass, 1996). The buboes are red at first, but later turn a dark purple or black they eventually bust open oozing blood and pus (Douglass, 1996). Other symptoms may include a high fever, often causing delirium, violent headaches, subcutaneous bleeding, and damage to the nervous system caused from the bleeding, which leads to uncontrollable twitching and jerking (Aberth, 2000). There is also a foul odor that is associated with the excrement of blood, pus and sweat of those who are infected (Aberth, 2000).