The Cause of The Bubonic Plague

1023 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: cause and effects of the bubonic plague in europe

A germ identified as Yersinia pestis, also known as the plague bacteria, causes the bubonic plague. Yersinia pestis are Gram-negative bacteria found in some parts of the world, mainly Africa, Asia and South America. The bacteria caused around 1000 to 3000 plague cases each year, however only about 10 to 20 of these cases are in the United States.

Yersinia pestis is found most commonly in rats, however it is occasionally found in other animals. Some of the other animals known to carry the bacteria are:

- Mice

- Fleas

- Lice

- Prairie dogs

- Cats

- Dogs

- Squirrels

- Wood rats

- And Chipmunks.

The bubonic plague is usually contracted when an infected flea or rodent bites someone. In some rare cases, the bacteria on a piece of contaminated clothing or other material that has touched an infected person can enter through an opening in the skin. The bubonic plague is rarely spread from person to person.

The bubonic plague can be spread through direct contact with an infected person or animal, or by eating an infected animal.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the plague can also be spread through scratches or bites of infected domestic cats.

Once the bacteria Yersinia pestis is inside the body it travels to the lymph nodes and begins to multiply. The lymph or lymphatic system is a major part of the body’s immune system. The organs that are in the lymphatic system are the tonsils, adenoids, spleen and thymus.

SYMPTOMS

When a person contracts the bubonic plague infected patients develop a sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, weakness, and one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes). These symptoms usually result from the bite of an infected flea. Once it i...

... middle of paper ...

...teria. Six yops have been identified, however there are probably more. One of the bugs earliest high priority activities is to prevent being destroyed by macrophages and PMNs. Of the six Yops, one is still an enigma- YopM. This Yop is delievered to the cytoplasm just like the others, but it hitches a ride with the cellular trafficking system and ends up entering the cell nucleus. When more research is done on what the YopM does inside the nucleus, it may help identify why the bugs are so vicious.

Works Cited

http://plague.emedtv.com/bubonic-plague/bubonic-plague-causes.html

http://www.healthline.com/health/plague#Causes

http://plague.emedtv.com/bubonic-plague/bubonic-plague-causes-p2.html

http://www.cdc.gov/plague/symptoms/index.html

http://www.healthline.com/health/plague?toptoctest=expand

http://www.research.uky.edu/odyssey/fall02/plague.html

Show More
Related

  • The Black Plague and Its Impact on Medicine in Medieval Society

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death (also called the "plague" or the "pestilence", the bacteria that causes it is Yersinia Pestis) was a devastating pandemic causing the death of over one-third of Europe's population in its major wave of 1348-1349. Yersinia Pestis had two major strains: the first, the Bubonic form, was carried by fleas on rodents and caused swelling of the lymph nodes, or "buboes", and lesions under the skin, with a fifty-percent mortality rate; the second, the pneumonic form, was airborne after the bacteria had mutated and caused fluids to build up in the lungs and other areas, causing suffocation and a seventy-percent mortality rate.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague DBQ

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Bubonic Plague: The Causes Of The Black Death

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    The disease was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis which was carried by fleas that lived on the black rats. These rodents helped spread the plague. The diseases spread one of two ways. The first was through human contact and the second was through the air, people were infected with the disease just by inhaling it. The symptoms and characteristics of the disease included fever, fatigue, muscle aches and the formation of buboes which is swollen lymph nodes. These buboes were usually found under the arm, on the neck or in the groin area. It is caused by internal bleeding which eventually forms black spots or boils under the skin (which is why it is called the black death). Death usually followed shortly after these symptoms

    Read More

  • Muslim Responses To Black Death Essay

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the thirteenth century the plague started spreading, it spread through the trade routes of many countries. Many people only heard of the plague being in China, but little did they know that the infection was already following the routes. The were three types of the Black Death Bubonic, Pneumonic, and Septicemic.The Bubonic strain of the plague was more common, an infected person would have symptoms of chills, fever, vomiting, and rapid heartbeat. The person would soon develop inflamed swelling which were called buboes. Once a person had these buboes within a week, fifty to eighty percent of these infected

    Read More

  • Comparing the AIDS Epidemic and The Plague

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bubonic plague, too, was a spontaneous epidemic. The Black Death occurred because a bacillus was carried by fleas that fed off the blood of humans and transmitted the deadly bacillus in the process (Packer). It began in China and spread by

    Read More

  • The Black Plague

    1637 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Black Plague is an Oriental Plague marked by inflammatory boils and tumors of the glands. Such break outs were found in no other febrile disease ( Hecker, pg 2). Inflammatory boils often appeared and black spots which indicated decomposition of the body ultimately appeared on the skin. Another symptom of the plague were imposthumes opening with a discharge of offensive matter ( Hecker, pg 5).

    Read More

  • Gonorrhea

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    attacks the urethra in males, the cervix in females, and the throat. The majority of the organisms

    Read More

  • The Black Death

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though the bubonic plague can not be transmitted among humans, it was the most common of the three plagues. The bubonic plague occurs when fleas feed on the blood of infected rodents, which are usually rats (Poland 1). The bacterium that causes the infection is known as Yersenia Pestis. The fleas then pass the bacteria when they bite a human or when materials infected with Yersenia pestis directly enters the body through a wound. The names of this plague come from the swellings, also known as buboes, that appeared on a victim’s neck, armpits, or groin (Gottfried,1).The lymph nodes suddenly become painful and swollen with pus especially in the groin. Later, the skin splits and oozes pus and blood. Blood also comes out of the victim’s urine which, like the rest of the symptoms, smells horribly. These swellings (also known as tumors) could be as small as an egg or as big as an apple. Even though some people survived this disease, others would have a life expectancy of a week.

    Read More

  • The Black Death

    2054 Words  | 5 Pages

    The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. Which had a mortality rate of 30-70%. The symptoms were enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes (around armpits, neck and groin). The term "bubonic" refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymphatic gland. Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness. Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear.

    Read More

  • The Plague - The Black Death

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The plague was spread by fleas, which were not effected by the disease. Fleas first infected the rats, which lived off garbage and sewage. The rats then spread the infection to the humans. Rats were a common sight in the cities, due to the poor sanitary conditions, so no one suspected them (www.tartans.com). In the winter the plague seemed to disappear, but only because fleas were dormant then. Each spring, the plague attacked again, killing new victims (www.byu.edu). The effects of the plague were devastating. After just five years, twenty-five million people were dead - one third of Europe's population. Once people were infected they infected others very rapidly. As a result, in order to avoid the disease, many fled to the countryside where the lower population density helped to decrease the speed at which the disease spread (www.tartans.com). From a person's time of infection to his or her death was less than one week (www.home.nycap.rr.com). The plague became known as "The Black Death" because of the discoloration of the skin and black enlarged lymph nodes that appeared on the second day of contracting the disease. The term "The Black Death" was not invented until after 1800. Contemporaries called it "the pestilence" (Cantor 7).

    Read More

  • The Black Death: Bubonic Plague’s Worst Disaster

    1759 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq Essay

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sweeping through Western Europe during the fourteenth century, the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly one third of the population and did not regard: status, age or even gender. All of this occurred as a result of a single fleabite. Bubonic Plague also known as Black Death started in Asia and traveled to Europe by ships. The Plague was thought to be spread by the dominating empire during this time, the Mongolian Empire, along the Silk Road. The Bubonic Plague was an infectious disease spread by fleas living on rats, which can be easily, be attached to traveler to be later spread to a city or region. Many factors like depopulation, decreasing trade, and huge shifts in migrations occurred during the Bubonic Plague. During Bubonic Plague there were also many different beliefs and concerns, which include fear, exploitation, religious and supernatural superstition, and a change of response from the fifteenth to eighteen century.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay: Plagues

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plague is a deadly infectious disease (ZOONOTIC DISEASE) caused by a gram negative bacterium Yersinia pestis. Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals. The bacteria are mainly found in rats and in the fleas that feed on them. Plague is transmitted to humans or other animals from rats and fleas bite that is carrying the plague bacterium, scratches from infected animals, inhalation of aerosols or consumption of food contaminated with the plague bacterium i.e. Yersinia pestis. In the past, plague destroyed entire civilization; no disease has impacted civilization as deeply as the plague did in Egypt, Europe, and Asia during Middle Ages. As many as 200 million people have died from this disease.

    Read More

  • An Essay On The Bubonic Plague

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    The virus attacks the lymph nodes and lungs. The buboes formed from the virus are usually formed in the groin or armpit depending on the closest lymph node. The plague is highly contagious, spread by speaking, coughing, and sneezing. There are two types of plague, the septimic and the pneumonic.

    Read More

More about The Cause of The Bubonic Plague

Open Document