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).
This paper is designed to inform you of the history, the facts, and the precautions needed to prevent a bioterrorist attack. In 1970, The World Health Organization estimated that 50 kg, or 110 lb, of Y. pestis sprayed over a city would infect 150,000 individuals and kill about 40,000 (Grey, p.218). Throughout history, there have been plague epidemics that have killed thousands of people. From the Athenian plague starting in 430 B.C. to the famous Black Death in 1346, people from all over the world have been caught in chaos with insufficient treatments and no reliable way of preventing this horrible disease from spreading.
http://ponderosa-pine.uoregon.edu/students/Janis/menu.html Abstract Bubonic plague has had a major impact on the history of the world. Caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, and transmitted by fleas often found on rats, bubonic plague has killed over 50 million people over the centuries. Burrowing rodent populations across the world keep the disease present in the world today. Outbreaks, though often small, still occur in many places. The use of antibiotics and increased scientific knowledge first gained in the 1890s have reduced the destruction of plague outbreaks.
Many people of this time thought the Plague arrived due to their sins as accounted by Gabriele de’ Mussis. “I pronounce these judgment: may your joys be turned to mourning, your prosperity be shaken by adversity, the course of your life be passed in never ending terror…no one will be given rest, poisoned arrows will strike everyone, fevers will throw down the proud, and incurable disease will strike like lightning” This quote reveals that God imposed the plague onto the people and they had to suffer due to their sins. In another section of this book, there is an excerpt from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. In it he describes the symptoms the people in the city of Florence suffered due to this disease. “It’s earliest symptom, in men and women alike, was the appearance of certain swellings in the groin or the armpit, some of which were egg shaped while some where the size of a common apple…Later on…people began to find dark botches and bruises on their arms, thighs, and other parts of the body” This source is one of many found in Horrox’s book that all list the same symptoms for this mysterious disease throughout all of
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.
Tuberculosis was one of the worst diseases, it infected when the bacteria spread in the moisture produced when coughing, and affected all ages. TB affected 15% of the population in the 19th century. Typhoid was another disease that attacked all ages; it was introduced into people when they came into contact with excreta (urine, faeces, and sweat) from a human. Smallpox had been a major killer of all ages but by 1850 it was gradually being eliminated through vaccination. This shows the work of an INDIVIDUAL, Edward Jenner who created the smallpox vaccine, because he was the success story of eradicating smallpox.
Popular belief states rats caused the Black Death. Because people can become sick with the bubonic plague from fleas that are carried by an infected rodent like a rat, it is common for individuals to also believe the Black Death was caused by a bubonic plague. The common belief blames the rats for the origination of the disease since it is believed by many that the Black Death was a bubonic plague. The theory involving the rats spreading the Black Death caused by the bubonic plague is invalid in that rats are also killed by the bubonic plague. If a rat were carrying the plague, they would die off faster than they could spread the disease onward.
London was filthy during this whole epidemic and there were no sewage systems. All the sewage was dumped into the River Thames (Alchin 1). The Elizabethan Era was a rough time for all the people because of the scare of this terrible disease. The Bubonic plague ransacked the Elizabethan Era and created awareness of this kind of destruction for earlier and later types of plagues. The Bubonic Plague was a part of the Black Death.
In fact, they could be in your very own home, maybe on that pencil lying on the table. These potential enemies are bacteria. Through the course of history, there have been many epidemics that have literally changed the world. Influenza, smallpox, and yellow fever are just a few examples, but there is one that has proved to be far deadlier and more devastating than any other: the plague. Others might know it as The Great Mortality, The Pestilence, or the Pest (Barnard 4).
Its method of transmission was from ticks that bite infected rodents, and then transmitted to humans. As a result, the Plague has most famously been called "the Black Death" because it can cause skin sores that form black scabs. This research paper will discuss: the description, microbiological classification and identification, life cycle, diseases, diagnosis and treatments of Y. pestis. Throughout history, Y. pestis, the unknown causative agent of the plague, a disease that were first described in the Old Testament and have persisted into the modern era. Y. pestis has caused large-scale epidemics, resulting in many changes to the ... ... middle of paper ... ...e cycle is initiated again with another flea bite.