Bubonic plague
is the best-known form of the disease
plague
, which is caused by the
bacterium
Yersinia pestis
. The name
bubonic plague
is specific for this form of the disease, which enters through the skin, and travels through the
lymphatic system
.
The plague was spread by
fleas
on
rats
. This method of spreading disease is a
zoonosis
.
If the disease is left untreated, it kills about half its victims in three to seven days. The bubonic plague was the disease that caused the
Black Death
, which killed tens of millions of people in Europe, in the
Middle Ages
.
[1]
Symptoms
of this disease include
coughing
,
fever
, and black spots on the
skin
.
Different kinds of the same disease
[
change
|
change source
]
There are different kinds of Bubonic plague. The most common form of the disease is spread by a certain kind of
flea
, that lives on
rats
. Then there is an
incubation period
which can last from a few hours to about seven days.
Sepsis
happens when the bacterium enters the
blood
and makes it form tiny clots.
This happens when the bacterium can enter the lungs. About 95% of all people with this form will die. Incubation period is only one to two days.
This is the most harmless form. It will result in a small
fever
. After that, the victim's body produces
antibodies
that protect against all forms of the disease for a long time.
The first recorded epidemic was in the
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire)
, It was called the
Plague of Justinian
after emperor
Justinian I
, who was infected but survived through extensive treatment.
[2]
[3]
The pandemic resulted in the deaths of an estimated 25 million (6th century outbreak) to 50 million people (two centuries of recurrence).
[4]
[5]
During the 1300s, this
epidemic
struck parts of
Asia
,
North Africa
, and
Europe
. Almost a third of the people in Europe died of it. Unlike
catastrophes
that pull communities together, this epidemic was so terrifying that it broke people's trust in one another.
Giovanni Boccaccio
, an
Italian
writer of the time, described it:
"This
scourge
had implanted so great a terror in the hearts of men and women that brothers
abandoned
brothers, uncles their nephews, sisters their brothers, and in many cases wives deserted their husbands. But even worse,... fathers and mothers refused to nurse and assist their own children".
[6]
Local outbreaks of the plague are grouped into three plague
pandemics
, whereby the respective start and end dates and the assignment of some outbreaks to either pandemic are still subject to discussion.
[7]
The pandemics were:
Globally about 600 cases of
plague
are reported a year.
[10]
In 2017 the countries with the most cases include the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
,
Madagascar
, and
Peru
.
[10]
The transmission of
Y. pestis
by fleas is well known.
[11]
Fleas are the
vector
. The flea gets the bacteria as they feed on an infected animal, usually a rodent. Several proteins then work to keep the bacteria in the flea's digestive tract. This is important for the survival of
Y. pestis
in fleas.
[12]
In the
20th century
, some countries did
research
on the
bacteria
that causes bubonic plague, in order to use it for
biological warfare
.
Samples of this
bacteria
are carefully controlled. There is much
paranoia
(fear) about it. Dr. Thomas C. Butler, a
US
expert in this
organism
was charged in October
2003
by the
FBI
with various
crimes
. This happened after he said he lost samples of
Yersinia pestis
. This is the bacteria that causes bubonic plague. The FBI did not find the samples. They do not know what happened to them.
- ↑
Walker, Cameron (10 March 2004).
"Bubonic plague traced to Ancient Egypt"
. National Geographic News
. Retrieved
2 April
2009
.
- ↑
Little, Lester K. (2007). "Life and Afterlife of the First Plague Pandemic." In: Little, Lester K. editor. (2007),
Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541?750
. Cambridge University Press. (2007).
ISBN
978-0-521-84639-4
pp. 8?15
- ↑
McCormick, Michael (2007). "Toward a Molecular History of the Justinian Pandemic." In: Little, Lester K. editor. (2007),
Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541?750
. Cambridge University Press. (2007).
ISBN
978-0-521-84639-4
pp. 290?312.
- ↑
Rosen, William (2007),
Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe
Archived
25 January 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
. Viking Adult; pg 3;
ISBN
978-0-670-03855-8
.
- ↑
Moorshead Magazines, Limited. "The Plague of Justinian." History Magazine 11.1 (2009): 9?12. History Reference Center
- ↑
The Decameron
/ Giovanni Boccaccio ; translated by Mark Musa & Peter Bondanella ; with an introduction by Thomas G. Bergin.
ISBN
0-451-52866-2
- ↑
7.0
7.1
Frandsen, Karl-Erik (2009).
The Last Plague in the Baltic Region. 1709?1713
. Copenhagen. p. 13.
ISBN
9788763507707
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ↑
8.0
8.1
Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2012).
Encyclopedia of the Black Death
. Santa Barbara (CA): ABC-CLIO. p. xxi.
ISBN
978-1-59884-253-1
.
- ↑
Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2012).
Encyclopedia of the Black Death
. Santa Barbara (CA): ABC-CLIO. p. xxii.
ISBN
978-1-59884-253-1
.
- ↑
10.0
10.1
"Plague"
.
World Health Organization
. October 2017
. Retrieved
8 November
2017
.
- ↑
Zhou D, Han Y, Yang R (2006). "Molecular and physiological insights into plague transmission, virulence and etiology".
Microbes Infect
.
8
(#1): 273?284.
doi
:
10.1016/j.micinf.2005.06.006
.
PMID
16182593
.
- ↑
Hinnebusch BJ, Rudolph AE, Cherepanov P, Dixon JE, Schwan TG, Forsberg A (2002). "Role of
Yersinia
murine toxin in survival of
Yersinia pestis
in the midgut of the flea vector".
Science
.
296
(#5, 568): 733?735.
Bibcode
:
2002Sci...296..733H
.
doi
:
10.1126/science.1069972
.
PMID
11976454
.
S2CID
34770234
.