There have been three plagues in history. The Justinianic (541–750) witch afflicted the Eastern Roman Empire ( Byzantine Empire) One high estimate is that the Plague of Justinian killed as many as 25 million people across the known world. The Black Death of the 1340s was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–53. The term "Black Death" is recent. During the plague, it was called "the Great Mortality" or "the Pestilence. The pathogen is believed to have travelled overland from China towards Europe in the 6th century. It affected mostly rodents in its infancy. Their fleas transferred the disease to people, and once in the human population, it spread rapidly. Spreading …show more content…
Pneumonic plague is a lung infection that causes its victim to cough blood and spread the bacteria from person to person. This is the most serious form of plague and it happens when Y. pestis bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia. To inhale the plague bacteria from an infected person or animal the individual has to be in direct or close contact. Secondary pneumonic plague develops from the untreated bubonic or septicemic stages and spreads to the lungs. The pneumonic plague killed 90-95% of its victims. Septicemic plague, a blood infection that is almost always fatal killed nearly 100% of the people it infected and still has no cure to this day. The most common sign of bubonic plague is the rapid development of a swollen and painful lymph gland. Bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes within 3 to 7 days of exposure to plague bacteria the victim will develop flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, weakness, and swollen tender