...The Plague If there is one part of life that humans have trouble overcoming it is natural disasters. They are unexpected, incurable, and often unconquerable. One specific type of natural disaster is that of sickness. Plagues are disastrous evil afflictions of an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality. A historically famous plague in the fourteenth and fifteenth century is the Black or Bubonic Plague. The social and economic effects of the plague in Europe were harmful to the population and economy. The Black Plague is an Oriental Plague marked by inflammatory boils and tumors of the glands. Such break outs were found in no other feverish disease. Inflammatory boils often appeared and black spots which indicated decomposition of the body ultimately appeared on the skin. Another symptom of the plague was openings with a discharge of offensive matter. Due to the significant pain and rapid spread of the plague medicine was ultimately never found, although attempted. People consumed in the plague died within three days of getting it. The plague began in 1333, fifteen years before it broke out in Europe. Many natural disasters were engulfing the Asian countries; floods, starvation, droughts, and the plague. A drought and food shortage had crucified the country which was started by floods of the Kiang and Hoai Rivers. After all of these disastrous events still an earthquake, continued floods, and food shortage ended in late 1300’s. Around 1339 in northwestern Europe...
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...Contents I. Abstract II. Introduction III. Background Information IV. Discussion V. Diagnosis Test VI. Prevention VII. Conclusion VIII. Bibliography Abstract According to archeologists, Bubonic plague may have originated from Egypt and not in Asia as originally thought. The disease is termed ‘Black Death’ and is said to have also begun in North Africa. Archeologists and fossil insect experts report that the disease may have distributed as a result of the flooding of River Nile that forced the rats to infest the human populated areas during the 3500 B.C. The causative agents of Bubonic Plague are known as Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) that are normally classified as Gram-negative, bipolar-staining coccobacilli. The coccobacilli are either rod or oval shape, and they is short. The Y. pestis metabolism is fermentative just like the other enterobacteriaceae, and they produce a thick antiphagocytic capsule that prevents the white blood cells from the ability to ward off the Y. pestis infection. In this paper, the disease Bubonic Plague will be discussed in details, including its causes, and the place where the recent outbreak has occurred. Introduction Bubonic Plague is brought by the Yersinia pestis, which is a Gam-negative, bipolar-staining coccobacilli. As learned in classes, the coccobacilli are rod or oval in shape, and normally short in size. Just like other Enterobacteriaceae, the Yersinia pestis has a fermentative type of metabolism, and they...
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...Concerning the bubonic plague, it had two devastating outbursts in Europe, in 543 and in 1348 (Rosen, pp. 24). They are respectively called the Justinian plague (porter, pp. 32) and the Black Death (Rosen, pp. 24). The protection of the people against epidemic diseases was at the centre of attention, especially after the first outbreak. It disseminated all classes and caused terror among all. The death of infected people occurred rapidly. The disease attacked the lymphatic or/and the lungs. It passed through human by simple contact (Rosen, pp. 24). The same principle of isolation than with leprosis was applied at the first outbreak (Rosen, pp. 25). The procedure was that the infected person had to be reported, and then examine. If the person...
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...in Europe. In October of 1347 traders from Genoese came to the port of Messina. These traders brought the plague along with them. 7 infective waves occurred in Europe between 1347 and 1400, killing between 25 – 50 million people. During this dark era, people were scared and running amuck, no faith, religious or medical professionals did not understand the plague going into other people after infecting others. They believed that the world was nearing its end. People reacted to the plague with mass fear. For instance, the French Author Nicolas Versoris explains Paris’s situation; “… the rich fled” (Doc 3) while the poor were “porters and wage-earners, who had lived there in large numbers” (Doc 3) were left to die. Nicolas may have been an early noble that would have tried to escape the plague, somewhat pathetic. Those who were poor and infected were confined to their homes or villages; “Whatever house the pestilence visited was immediately nailed up… many died of hunger in their own houses… all roads and highways were guarded so that a person could not pass from one place to another”(Doc 5) as stated by Heinrich von Staden, a rich traveler, may have seen such events. The beliefs of people quickly fell and people lost faith; “what if the sickness should come into this house? Who would I be willing to give up to the disease?”(Doc 8). Many who were still free of the plague were extremely concerned about receiving it and took many precautions. Those that were lucky enough to not...
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...ESSAY TOPIC: Plague, is it still a threat? History Aetiologgy and treatment Plague in the modern world Abstract The plague is a communicable disease, having a high mortality rate without treatment. There are three huge pandemics in history with millions of deaths occurring. The first pandemic occurred around the year 541AD and was called “plague of Justinian”, the second pandemic “Black Death” occurred in 14th century, and the third epidemic resulted in China around the 1860s. There are three main types of plague such as bubonic plague, septicaemic plague and primary pneumonic plague, with each type of the plague; the antibiotics are the most important method of treatment for plague currently. The Yersinia pestis, as the causative agent of plague, is a Gram-negative bacillus in the bacterial family. This disease is transmitted by the biting of fleas, which occur in some animals such as the rats, rabbits and dogs. Early detection, reporting, isolating and early treatment are very important in preventing huge scales of the plague’s happening. People should take more precautions to prevent plague from infection. Today, this infectious disease is still a threat for people around the world, especially in Africa, Asia and South American countries. “Plague or its cause, Y. pestis, has been used by humans as a weapon (bioterrorist weapon) against other humans for centuries, including this current time”(Nettleman, 2012). The plague is an infectious bacterial disease, caused...
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...Glover Professor Schmitt English 2111-45 November 27, 2012 The Black Plague The Black Plague is a disease contracted from diseased animals, mostly by fleas, to human. The Black Plague then may be contracted by humans touching or breathing on one another. This disease is highly deadly and the bacterium that causes this disease is Yersinia Pestis. The Black Plague or as many call it “The Black Death” arrived in Europe by sea October 1347 when twelve Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after traveling through the Black Sea. Europe’s communities were devastated by the amount of suffering and death the disease brought to the people. The most common characteristic of the black plague is the black boils that appear all over the human body and then the boils bursts open with the blood oozing out black. The black blood that oozes out is why people call it the black plague. The symptoms of the disease can progress to other categories of the black plague which are: septicemia plague, pneumonic plague, and bubonic plague. The Sopticemic plague is the rarest deadliest bacterial infection caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pertis. The plague begins to destroy the human body “when the bacterium enters the bloodstream through an open wound the person is known to be infected by plague. The bacterium multiplies in the blood and results in septicemic plague. This form of plague like the other types is capable of causing disseminated intravascular coagulation...
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...The Black Plague “The Renaissance Death of England” Jayne Ritzinger GS102 – Introduction of Life Science September 2, 2009 The Black Plague in a Medieval Perspective “The Renaissance Death of England” The Sixteenth Century and Bubonic Plague The year is 1350 and death has travelled Western Asia and Europe for a decade. The death rate has exceeded 10 million due to the Black Plague, which is the curse of Europe (Bollinger, 1983). Travelling by boat and carriage, the Black Death has infected the known world from Constantinople to London. “The first attack, known since the late sixteenth century as the Black Death but to contemporaries as “the great mortality”, occurred in southern England in 1348; by the end of 1349 it had spread to Central Scotland” (Morgan, 1984). Rats and the lice that traveled on them were the common cause, but the Sixteenth Century had no such mechanism to identify the causation of the plague “Plague is characterized by periodic disease outbreaks in rodent populations, some of which have a high death rate. During these outbreaks, hungry infected fleas that have lost their normal hosts seek other sources of blood, thus escalating the increased risk to humans and other animals frequenting the area” (Plague, 2009). As defined by the Center for Disease Control, the Black Plague is defined as follows: Plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Pestis. Epidemics of plague in humans usually involve house rats...
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...Bubonic plague is believed to have brought the Byzantine empire to its knees in the 6th century. This is the first ever documented record of bubonic plague in human history. But the fact that bubonic plague continues to afflict human population even today is a matter of concern. Your bubonic plague research paper would revolve around the premise of it being a deadly disease, but we assure you that we won’t scare you by the facts. Bubonic plague is typically differentiated from other infections because of its roots in the bacteria, Yersinia pestis or Pastuerella pestis. The bacteria typically infects the spleen, lungs, kidneys and brain. It is spread by virtue of rats and fleas. The staff at ProfEssays.com could as Help with Bubonic Plague Research Paperwell spell out some of its symptoms as shivering chills staggering gait stuttered speech memory loss weakness The early symptoms lead to graver consequences, and the ultimate zenith is reached when the patient ultimately breaths his last. Several deaths were caused by bubonic plague in the 14th century when medical science wasn’t developed as it is today. A nursing and healthcare term paper could focus on the facilities provided to modern healthcare officials that were not available in the 14th century. It killed almost 30 per cent of the contemporary European population. Infection is spread through fleas and rodents. It is a common occurrence to have rodents whenever there are earthquakes or other such calamities. The...
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...The Black Death Bubonic Plague The bubonic plague is a highly infectious and fearsome disease that attacks the lungs and lymph nodes. It is also called the Black Death or black plague. The bubonic plague is caused by Pasteurella pestis, a bacteria which resides within infected fleas and rats. Victims of the bubonic plague develop early symptoms, such as shivering, vomiting, headache, intolerance to light, back and limb pain, and a white coating on the tongue. Eventually, they develop black egg-sized swellings (buboes) filled with blood and pus under the armpits and in the groin. As the disease progresses, internal bleeding leads to black patches on the skin, and the victim may die in three to five days. Invasion of the lungs by the bacterium causes an equally fatal form of the plague called pneumonic plague, which can be transmitted from person to person by air droplets and saliva. Historical records document outbreaks of the plague as early as 430 b.c., when an epidemic struck Athens, Greece; but the most notorious bubonic plague epidemic began in Europe around 1346, reportedly when a ship of sick and dying sailors arrived at the Black Sea port of Caffa. This plague lasted four years and killed about one-third of the population of Europe, or approximately 20 million people. For hundreds of years after, epidemics of bubonic plague would sweep across the world killing millions more. The disease was so lethal that some victims supposedly would go to bed healthy and die in...
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...bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease, usually going between rodents and thier fleas zoonotic is a disease that is infectious to both man and animals the term bubonic plague derived from a greek word meaning "groin" mainly because lymphnodes usually swell in the armpit and groin area signs and symptoms of the black plague are muscle cramps Acral gangrene: gangrene of toes nose lips fingers and/or toes Chills High fever around 102 degree Fahrenheit Smooth, painful lymph gland swelling , commonly found in the groin, but may occur in the armpits or neck, most often at the site of the initial infection (bite or scratch) seizures the bubonic plague was usually transmitted through the bite of the rat flea called Xenopsylla cheopis, this flea that are mostly found on rats and mice, seek out other prey when their host dies. the plague harmlessly lives in the fleas stomache but agrivates the flea causing them to regurgitate ingested blood which is now infected while biting a human or rodent host the bubonic plague was believed to have started in china or central asia before spreading west and estimated to have kill 25 million people in china or 30% of its population. the oriental fleas, that were infected with the bubonic plague, were living on black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships and trader that went along the mediteranian and the silk road spreading it through out asia and europe. the mongols cut off the trade route of the silk road...
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...Black Death The Black Plague is known as one of the worst pandemics in human history. The plague originated in China and Central Asia which then spread westward into Europe. It is said that disease spread through fleas and rats that lived on ships and along trading routes. The black death killed millions of people from China, to India and even as far as North Africa. Eventually. infected traders from Italy introduced the plague into Europe which in turn spread quickly to France, Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia. In the 14th century, at least 75 million people on three continents perished due to the painful, highly contagious disease. The main transition of the disease was said to be from fleas that were carried by rats. Trading ships and trading routes allowed the rodents to spread the plague quicker as they passed through countries. The rats would eventually die from the flea bites and the bacteria, but the fleas would survive and move onto other animals and even humans. When a person is infected, they would suffer from fever, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Also swelling would occur and dark rashes appeared on the groin, legs, armpits and neck. The black death was also called the Pneumonic Plague, because it affected the lungs which then caused the disease to be spread through the air by cough and sneeze. The plague spread quickly due to overpopulated and unsanitary cities. There was no proper treatment so most people died within a week after...
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...letter so just to let you know it is the year 1347. I am living in the great city of Sienna, Italy with my dear husband and my two young children. My life isn’t going so well right now it’s falling apart, all due to the outbreak of the black plague. I bet you have already come across it because it’s spreading without stop from city to city, but if you haven’t yet let me inform you that it’s the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced in all my life. This disease has killed millions of people including my neighbors, relatives, and my loved ones, no one is safe. The black plague starts off with painful swelling and almost tumor like lumps on your body called buboes usually located in your groin and underarms and can be as large as the size of an egg. Next you will start vomiting and have an extremely high fever and you will start seeing dark blotches all over your body caused by bleeding under your skin. If you haven’t passed away yet the disease will attack your nervous system and create you to have excruciating painful spasms. Lastly the buboes will pop and there will be black liquid discharge from it. All in all most victims suffer a painful death; it is just so depressing to see your whole city perish this way. The black plague had such a major impact on the world, it affected it socially, religiously, and it even affected the economy. It affected the world socially for many reasons the most obvious being the population shortage. About 50-70% of people died in cities...
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...It seems unrealistic that a disease could wipe a population from the map. Today, american society has medicine and cures for diseases. The Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347. According to Michele da Piazza, twelve Genoese ships were decked in the Messina port and it is alleged that their sailors spread it to European citizens. The ill men then moved to major porting docks in Italy, Spain, and France. While they were not in their ships, they traveled through Switzerland, Austria, England, and Denmark. Though, it is believed that the plague originated in Africa and moved to Europe through trade routes. During the time, people did not refer to this disease as the “Black Death.” Instead, they called it “pestilence,” “plague,” or “great mortality (2007, pp....
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...Introduction The Bubonic plague of the Middle Ages has proven itself to be one of the worst pandemics in history. Ebola, in the meantime, has also proven to be deadly and threatening since the outbreak in 2014. It upgraded itself from an outbreak to an epidemic. What if Ebola becomes a pandemic? Would it be deadlier than the Bubonic plague? This is the question that this thesis paper will attempt to find the answer to. This paper will provide detailed backgrounds of both of these diseases; including their history and historical relevance, their causes and effects, even their levels of damage and possible cures. This paper will expand your knowledge of both diseases to such an extent that you can accurately compare and contrast them in order...
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