Origination
The Black Plague originated in
China in the 1330's and moved West with the
Mongol invaders and traders. It first hit
Europe in 1346 in a Crimean port by the name of Caffa. The plague soon struck the people in the surrounding areas --
Tartars -- and killed tens of thousands. The
Muslim Tartars blamed the nearby
Christian Geonese and laid
seige to the city, hurling plague-
infected
corpses over the city walls. Some Geonese managed to escape the seige and flee to
Italy, carrying the plague with them.
From Italy, the plague quickly spread to
France,
England,
Germany,
Denmark,
Finland,
Sweden, and
Poland. It even reached
Greenland. During this first and most serious bout, the plague is estimated to have killed one-third to one-half of Europe's population.
The plague reached England at
Michaelmas in 1348. The custom at the time was to
ring the
church bells at
funerals, and it is reported that in the city of Bath, it was decreed that no bells could be rung, for the endless ringing frightened a great many of the residents. Outbreaks continued in England sporadically until the
Great Fire of London, which is speculated to have killed off many rats and their fleas.
Transmission
The plague is spread by two means: contact with infected bodily fluids, and by the Oriental
Rat Flea,
Xenopsylla cheopsis. The
bacteria that causes the plague is aptly named
Yersinia pestis. A flea ingests the bacteria from a rat, and the bacteria multiplies in the flea's intestinal tract. Soon, the flea's
stomach is blocked, and since it cannot not fill its stomach (satisfy its
hunger, the flea will bite its host repeatedly. Blood from the
host enters the digestion tract, becomes infected with bacteria, and because the stomach is blocked, the blood returns to the host through the flea's
vomit. Since the Rat Flea prefers rats as hosts, there is no real danger to humans until large numbers of rats begin to die, and the fleas move on to their secondary host:
humans.
Symptoms
There are three types of plague:
bubonic,
septicemic, and
pneumonic. In
bubonic plague, the most common form in the
Middle Ages, the
mortality rate was 30-75%. Symptoms took from 1 to 7 days to appear. Initial symptoms include
headache,
nausea,
vomiting, aching joints, and
fever. The bubonic plague's signature was the enlarged
lymph node, or bubo. The lymph node would
swell, and become black and hardened. Lancing the bubo sometimes helped to cure the
patient.
Septicemic plague is the form that gives this plague its most common name: The
Black Plague. It is the rarest form of the disease. The mortality rate was very near 100%. Symptoms include high
fever, and a discoloration of the skin: wherever the patient's skin received pressure, it turned
black or
purple. Patients usually died with a day of contracting the septicemic plague.
The
pneumonic plague was the most communicable form. This form infected the patient's
lungs. Mortality rate was 90-95%. The patients coughed up
spetum tinted with
blood. As the disease progressed, the spetum became bright red. Symptoms took 1 to 7 days to appear after initial infection.
Repurcussion was very, very rare, as most who contracted the plague died from it.
Treatment
Medieval treatments for the plague were not too
effective.
Bleeding was popular, but this only served to further
spread the plague. Other remedies included an infusion of
sulfur and burning
incense and aromatic
oils. Today, treatments are much more effective. The patient is given a strong dose of
antibiotics, including streptomycin. The modern-day mortality rates, when treatment is given, are as follows: bubonic, minimal; septicemic, 100%; pnemonic, 5-10%. However, in 1997
researchers discovered a
strain of the plague that is
immune to most antibiotics used to treat it.
Prevention
In the Middle Ages, some people believed that the
disease was transmitted through the
air, so they took to carrying cloths infused with aromatic oils such as
rosemary, camphor, and laurel to cover their faces when they went out. One particular drawing from the
Middle Ages shows a contraption meant to keep
physicians from contracting the disease: it is a
mask shaped like a bird's head, with a long, hollow
beak fitting over the
mouth; the beak is to be filled with aromatic
herbs. Other people tried to scare away the plague with
sound, by ringing bells or blasting
cannons.
Talismans and
spells were also quite popular. Milan and Venice both took measures to
quarantine the ill, and their efforts paid off.
Today, there are still sporadic outbreaks of plague. There was a major outbreak in
San Francisco from 1900-1909. In 1996, five people in the
Southwest region of the
United States died of plague, and
periodic outbreaks are not uncommon in the Indian Penninsula and in
Africa. Prevention measures include improving
sanitary conditions, killing rats and burning their corpses, and using
insecticide to kill fleas. In 1999, researchers announced that they were ready to test a
vaccine against the plague.
Self-Assessment
Just in case you ever ask yourself, "Do I have the plague?", I am offering a self-assessment test to help you determine whether you do.
1. Do I have a
fever?
Yes or
No
2. Do I have a horrible, hacking
cough? Do I feel like I have
needles in my
chest? Am I coughing up
blood?
Yes or
No
3. Do I have swollen
lymph nodes on my
neck, under my
armpits, or near my
crotch? Are they swollen to the size of a
walnut or larger, turning black, becoming
hot to the touch, or turning
hard?
Yes or
No
4. Am I
delirious? (This is hard to self-
diagnose; it's better to
phone a
friend and ask them.)
Yes or
No
5. Am I
confused? Example: If you've been thinking, "
Dan Quayle might not be such a bad
president," you are confused and might have the plague.
Yes or
No
6. Do I have an enlarged
liver and/or
spleen? (Again, this is tough to self-diagnose. Performing exploratory
surgery on yourself is not recommended.)
Yes or
No
7. Am I
vomiting up a
viscuous black
bile streaked with
blood? (This is okay to self-diagnose.)
Yes or
No
8. Am I crawling with fleas? Although this does not necessarily mean that you have the plague, if the fleas are accompanied by
symptoms of the plague, you might be a little more worried.
Yes or
No
9. Am I surrounded by
dead rats?
Yes or
No
10. Am I in the
Middle Ages?
If you exhibit more than a few of these symptoms, it's probably a good idea to call your
doctor and
quarantine yourself until you find out what's wrong. This has been a public health service provided by
SueZVudu!