Group items tagged

When, for instance, a stranger called Andrew Hogson died from plague on his arrival in Penrith in 1597, and the next plague case followed twenty-two days later, this corresponded to the first phase of the development of an epidemic of bubonic plague. And Hobson was, of course, not the only fugitive from a plague-stricken town or area arriving in various communities in the region with infective rat fleas in their clothing or luggage. This pattern of spread is called ‘spread by leaps’ or ‘metastatic spread’. Thus, plague soon broke out in other urban and rural centres, from where the disease spread into the villages and townships of the surrounding districts by a similar process of leaps.

other two strains are the septicaemic plague, which infects the circulatory system in victims, and the pneumonic plague

the traders carried the bacterium yersinia pestis in the rats on board as well as in some of the sailors themselves. The Black Death had arrived in Europe.

Once the flea bites a human, infected blood from the rat is introduced to the healthy blood of the human, and the bacteria spreads. Death occurs in less than a week for humans. A high fever, aching limbs, and fatigue mark the early stages of infection. Eventually, the lymph nodes of the neck, groin, and armpit areas swell and turn black. Those black swellings on victims are what give the Black Death its name. The victim begins to vomit blood and in some instances suffer hysteria from fever and terror. Exposure to any body fluids means exposure to the bacterium, and thus spreading the disease is very easy through coughing victims. The victim dies shortly after the lymph nodes swell until bursting within the body.

As winter approached, colder temperatures killed fleas and caused rats to seek dormancy

disease was not gone, it was simply dormant for a few month

bubonic plague is actually the weakest strain of known plagues.

Black Death was solely caused by the bubonic strain of plague has been questioned

which infects the respiratory system

was the spread eastward to China

Black Death killed virtually all infected people raises doub

bubonic plague is not as fatal compared to the other two strains (which have mortality rates close to 100%)

the site of the first plague cases in Italy, Messina:

Soon the boils grew to the size of a walnut, then to that of a hen's egg or a goose's egg,

There was not nearly enough consecrated ground for each victim to have an individual plot, and so enormous trenches were dug into which layer upon layer of dead bodies were lain. The trench was topped off with a small layer of soil,

Pope Clement VI even consecrated the entire Rhone river so that corpses could be thrown into it for lack of earth.

people, and considered it to be a punishment from an angry God. Some peasants resorted to magic spells, charms, and talismans.

Some people burned incense or other herbs as they believed that they overpowering smell of the dead victims was the source of the disease.

Some people even tried to "drive the disease away" with sound from church bells and canon fire

Churchmen, and public officials considered the disease to be just that; a disease.

Expert Tim Brooks, who’s unrelated to this current finding, theorizes the disease was pneumonic – not bubonic – meaning that coughing and sneezing likely spread the sickness. Then rampant malnutrition perhaps widened its swath.

Everything you know about the Black Death is wrong

The Italian writer Boccaccio said victims often "ate lunch with their friends, and ate dinner with their ancestors in paradise."

The Europeans often ate stale or diseased meat because refrigeration had not yet been invented.

Europeans were susceptible to disease because many people lived in crowded surroundings in an era when personal hygiene was not considered important.

Cities began to build hospitals and enforce standards for sanitation.

The devastation of the plague led to advances in medicine.

People were advised to not bathe because open skin pores might let in the disease.

Some Europeans believed the plague was a sign from God. Groups known as flagellants tried to atone for the sins of the world by inflicting punishments upon themselves. The flagellants also had a tendency to persecute Jews and even clergymen who spoke out against them. Eccentric and unusual people were often charged with witchcraft and sorcery. Pope Clement VI condemned the flagellants, but they continued to reappear in times of plague.

Today, plague is rare in the United States, but it has been known to occur in parts of California, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico

in Europe, massive plague epidemics killed millions of people. Plague can still be found in Africa, Asia, and South America.

someone with pneumonic plague coughs, tiny droplets carrying the bacteria move through the air. Anyone who breathes in these particles may catch the disease. An epidemic may be started this way.

Pneumonic plague symptoms appear suddenly, typically 2 - 3 days after exposure. They include: Cough Difficulty breathing Fever Frothy, bloody sputum Pain in the chest when you breathe deeply Severe cough Septicemic plague may cause death even before its symptoms occur. Symptoms can include: Abdominal pain Bleeding due to blood clotting problems Diarrhea Fever Nausea Vomiting

Bubonic plague symptoms appear suddenly, usually after 2 - 5 days of exposure to the bacteria. Symptoms include: Chills Fever General ill feeling (malaise) Headache Muscle pain Seizures Smooth, painful lymph gland swelling called a bubo Commonly found in the groin, but may occur in the armpits or neck, most often at the site of the infection (bite or scratch) Pain may occur in the area before the swelling appears

Bubonic plague -- an infection of the lymph nodes Pneumonic plague -- an infection of the lungs Septicemic plague -- an infection of the blood

Tests that may be done include:

Blood culture Culture of lymph node aspirate (fluid taken from an affected lymph node or bubo) Sputum culture

People with the plague need immediate treatment. If treatment is not received within 24 hours of when the first symptoms occur, death may occur.

Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague

Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed.

Patients with pneumonic plague should be strictly isolated from caregivers and other patients. People who have had contact with anyone infected by pneumonic plague should be watched carefully and given antibiotics as a preventive measure.

Without treatment, about 50% of people with bubonic plague die. Almost all people with pneumonic plague die if not treated. Treatment reduces the death rate to 50%

Rat control and watching for the disease in the wild rodent population are the main measures used to control the risk of epidemics. A vaccination is available for high-risk workers, but its effectiveness is not clearly established

Bubonic plague, the disease's most common form, refers to telltale buboes—painfully swollen lymph nodes—that appear around the groin, armpit, or neck. Septicemic plague, which spreads in the bloodstream, comes either via fleas or from contact with plague-infected body matter. Pneumonic plague, the most infectious type, is an advanced stage of bubonic plague when the disease starts being passed directly, person to person, through airborne droplets coughed from the lungs. If left untreated, bubonic plague kills about 50 percent of those it infects. The other two forms are almost invariably fatal without antibiotics.Yersinia pestis is extraordinarily virulent, even when compared with closely related bacteria. This is because it's a mutant variety, handicapped both by not being able to survive outside the animals it infects and by an inability to penetrate and hide in its host's body cells. To compensate, Y. pestis needs strength in numbers and the ability to disable its victim's immune system. It does this by injecting toxins into defense cells such as macrophages that are tasked with detecting bacterial infections. Once these cells are knocked out, the bacteria can multiply unhindered.Victims are so overwhelmed that they're more or less poisoned to death as the bacilli gather in thick clots under the skin, where a passing flea might pick them up. Other grim side effects can include gangrene, erupting pus-filled glands, and lungs that literally dissolve.

Plague still exists in various parts of the world. In 2003, more than 2,100 human cases and 180 deaths were recorded, nearly all of them in Africa. The last reported serious outbreak was in 2006 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa, when at least 50 people died. The United States, China, India, Vietnam, and Mongolia are among the other countries that have confirmed human plague cases in recent years.Most people survive if they're given the correct antibiotics in time. Good sanitation and pest control help prevent plague outbreaks since they need crowded, dirty, rat-infested conditions to really get going.There are fears that plague bacteria possibly could be used for a bioterror attack if released in aerosol form.

first symptoms

skin blackene

inspiration for “Dance of Death” rituals

nervous system collapsed, causing extreme pain and bizarre neurological disorders

Once infected, people can infect others by coughing, sneezing, or close talking

“pocket full of posies,” that people carried with them and held near their faces to ward off the horrid odor

uncharacteristically cremated—the “ashes, ashes,”—and finally, death would come, and we would “all fall down.”

Fleas feeding on infected rodents can transmit the disease to people as well

the skin blackened, giving rise to “The Black Death.

The origin of “The Black Death” dates to an outbreak in China during the 1330s

Unlike smallpox, the plague is still a threat in some parts of the world. Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, is transmitted through rat-tainted fleabites in densely populated cities and in countries with poor hygiene, or in the open country from infected wild rodents. The most common form of human plague is a swollen and painful lymph gland that forms buboes.

Pneumonic plague is more difficult to treat, and even with antibiotics, victims can die from it. Pneumonic plague occurs when the infectious bacteria infects the lungs. The first signs of illness in pneumonic plague are fever, headache, weakness, and a cough that produces blood or watery sputum. The pneumonia progresses over two to four days and, without early treatment, death ensues.

Plague vaccines have been used since the late nineteenth century, but their effectiveness is uncertain. Vaccination reduces the incidence and severity of disease resulting from the bite of infected fleas, but it isn't 100 percent effective. The plague vaccine is licensed for use in the United States and is available for adults at high risk—people who live in the western United States, people who will be in parts of the world where plague is still endemic, and people who are around rodents. Severe inflammatory reactions are common, and plague vaccine should not be given to anyone with a known hypersensitivity to beef protein, soya, casein, or phenol. Finally, the vaccination routine is complex and requires frequent boosters to maintain its effectiveness.

Bubonic Plague

Written evidence from the time indicates that nearly all the victims died within three days though a small number did last for four days.

Therefore whole villages would have faced starvation. Towns and cities would have faced food shortages as the villages that surrounded them could not provide them with enough food. Those lords who lost their manpower to the disease, turned to sheep farming as this required less people to work on the land. Grain farming became less popular – this, again, kept towns and cities short of such basics as bread. One consequence of the Black Death was inflation – the price of food went up creating more hardship for the poor. In some parts of England, food prices went up by four times.

Those who survived the Black Death believed that there was something special about them – almost as if God had protected them. Therefore, they took the opportunity offered by the disease to improve their lifestyle.