The Bubonic Plague. The Greatest Form Of Population Control Ever Known To Mankind. Essay, Research Paper

Rolfe 3

Imagine this, one-day everyone you know is beginning to die. The world as you know it has been completely desecrated, polluted with a plague of death…a plague of black death. Many people are familiar with the bubonic plague. However not too many people are familiar with the widespread fatality the bubonic plague caused. Complete social changes followed the bubonic plague. From 542 to 1900 A.D. the bubonic plague killed approximately 37,685,229 people. It is thought that one third or one half of the world population died from the plague, with some towns having a death rate of up to 40 percent. That is more casualties then any war in history provided us with. Gigantic outbreaks occurred nearly every ten years. The bubonic plague has become the largest form of population control known to mankind.

The name bubonic plague came from the major symptom. The disease caused painful swollen lymph nodes called buboes. They are found in the groin area. Boubon is latin for buboes. The word plague was used due to the extreme number of deaths that occurred because of the disease. The bubonic plague is also known as the Black Death. This is because when one was infected, blood under the skin would dry and become black.

The causative agent of the bubonic plague is a bacterium called yersinnia pestis, also known as pasteurella pestis. The bacterium is present in rats. Today we know how it is transmitted. A flea that is feeding on a rodent that is infected also becomes infected. The bacterium then multiplies inside the flea’s gut. The flea’s gut then becomes clogged with the bacterium and when the flea tries to bite a human the bacterium is regurgitated

Rolfe 4 into the open wound. The human is then infected with the bubonic plague. Once the human is infected, many biological effects begin to take place. Within 2-6 days of infection, the bacterium travels through the blood stream to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lung, and brain. As soon as this happens the human experiences physical symptoms. These symptoms are shivering, vomiting, head ache, giddiness, intolerance to light, white coating on the tongue and pain in the back and limbs. Painful swollen lymph nodes occur in the thigh, neck and armpit. Blood vessels begin to burst and the dried blood turns black. If the disease is untreated there is only a 25 percent chance of survival.

There are many theories as to how the disease reached Europe. However, there is only one that has been taken under serious consideration. On October of 1347, a Genoese fleet made its way into the harbor of northeast Sicily with a crew that had “sickness clinging to their very bones” (Gottfried 110). The crew had been infected through the fleas and rats aboard the ship. The harbor tried to control the sickness by attempting to quarantine the fleet, but it was too late. Within six months one half of the population of Sicily was dead. This fleet along with many other fleets that traveled along the Mediterranean Sea brought the greatest natural disaster to the world.

There were four major outbreaks that led to the downfall of the world’s population. The first one was believed to have started in small distant countries. It was named the “plague of Justinian”. This took place between 542 and 544 A.D. This one outbreak killed 70,000 people alone with in a two-year period. Smaller outbreaks continued to occur until 1340 A.D. Seven years later the plague hit Europe.

Rolfe 5

About eight months after Sicily became infested, the second major outbreak began. The time period is referred to as “the most devastating in Europe”. Between 1347 and 1350 A.D. the plague had crossed many seas covering all of Italy and France. It then crossed to the Alps, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and most of Germany. Then in 1351 the plague reached Russia. This major outbreak killed one third of Europe’s population. Approximately 25 million people died because of the bubonic plague. The third outbreak was in 1665 and was named “the Great Plague of London”. The plague wiped out 17,440 people out of a population of 93,000. Fortunately a great fire that burned the entire city ended the outbreak before it got any worse. The last out break began in Manchuria and ended in San Francisco. The time period was 1890 to 1900 and the death count was 12,597,789.

If one has become infected with the bubonic plague, they can receive treatment. Some 10 to 20 people a year are reported as having the plague in the U.S. Many of those who are treated survive and then become immune to the illness. However in the fourteenth century, physicians only knew it was contagious. We are lucky to have come as far as we have in medical technology. The vaccine used now days to treat the bubonic plague is a prophylaxis antibiotic called streptomycin. In areas of large communities of burrowing rodents, the vaccine is given regularly like the measles vaccine in the U.S. The vaccine, however only lasts for six months.

Rolfe 6

After reading this can you further imagine what it would have been like to live through the bubonic plague? I think so. It has been establish with out a doubt that the bubonic plague has been the most devastating natural disaster ever to have fallen upon the existence of man. The entire world was affected and the casualty level reached an enormous number that still to this day has not been outdone. The bubonic plague was and still is the largest form of population control ever known.

Bibliography

Rolfe 1

Outline

Introduction:

I. The Bubonic Plague became the largest form of population control known.

A. From 542-1900 the Plague killed approximately 37,685,229 people.

1. The Plague killed more people than any war in history.

2. Outbreaks occurred nearly every 10 years.

II. What is the Bubonic Plague?

A. Name of disease: came from symptoms of the swollen lymph nodes.

1. Boubon is Latin for lymph nodes

2. Plague came from the wide spread of fatality.

B. What is the causative agent?

1. A bacterium called yersinia Pestis, also known as pasteuralla.

C. How is the Plague transmitted?

1. Through rats and fleas

D. What are some of the biological effects?

1. Painful swollen lymph nodes

2. Occurs in 2-6 days

III. Where did it come from?

A. Brought by a Genoese fleet to Sicily.

1. The entirety of the ships men became sick due to the rats and fleas that were also aboard the ship.

2. With in six months half the regions population had died.

Rolfe 2

IV. The four major outbreaks

A. The Plague of Justinian (542-544)

1. Killing 70,000 people in 2 years.

2. Followed trade until 1340.

B. Most devastating in Europe (1346-1350).

1. By 1348 the Plague covered all of Europe.

2. In 1351 the Plague reached Russia

3. Killing 25,000,000 people or 1/3 of the European population.

C. The Great Plague of London (1665).

1. Killed 17,440 out of a population of 93,000.

2. A fire that burned the city ended most of the outbreak.

D. Manchuria (1890)

1. By 1900 the plague traveled from Manchuria to San Francisco.

2. Killing 12,597,789 people.

V. Treatment.

A. Prophylaxis antibiotics or Streptomycin

1. Vaccine lasts 6 months.

VI. Conclution.