THE BLACK DEATH

(1) Reached the shores of Italy in 1348, unleashing rampage over Europe unprecedented in recorded history.

By the third year, the epidemic had taken 25% to 50% of Europe’s population.

3 forms: -Bubonic variant

- pneumonic plague

(4) - Septicemic version

THE BLACK DEATH

The most common

Derives name from buboes (swelling) that appear on victims neck, armpit, or groin.

These tumors range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple.

Although some survived, tumors signaled victim had life expectancy of a week.

Infected fleas attached themselves to rat until it spread to humans.

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BUBONIC

Attacked respiratory system

Was spread by merely breathing in the exhaled air of a victim.

Life expectancy measured up to one or two days.

PNEUMONIC

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Septicemic version of the disease attacked the persons blood system.

Having no defense and no understanding of the cause of the pestilence, the men, women and children caught in its

onslaught were bewildered, panicked, and finally devastated.

SEPTICEMIC

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In the east, the sign of inevitable death was a rush of blood from the nose.

The tumors spread all over the body. Soon after, symptoms changed and purple and black spots.

These spots were definite signs of death.

SPOTS

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No doctors advice or medicine could overcome the disease.

Enormous amounts of ignorant men and women pretended to be doctors in addition to those trained.

Either it had no treatment, or the doctors were so ignorant that they didn’t know what caused it and

couldn’t prescribe the proper remedy .In either case, very few people recovered, most people died within 3 days of buboes appearance without any

fever or other symptoms. The disease was so violent that the sick spread the

disease to anyone who came near them.

DOCTORS AND THE CURE

(2) The flea that rode the back of a black rat onto the shores of Italy had a gut full

of the bacillus, Yersinia Pestis.

The flea could have been slightly larger than a grain of rice, but it could carry several hundred thousand

bacilli in its intestine.

XENOPSYLLA CHEOPSIS

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(3) The first recorded epidemic occurred in the Byzantine Empire during the 6th

century, under Justinian. A disease born by rats in Egypt traveled

to Constantinople where it claimed nearly 5000 lives a day and killed about half of

the ancient population. From there, it traveled east and west

becoming the most lethally known pandemic. Between 25 to 100 million people died in both Asia and Europe.

Some historians say that the damage done to the Persian and Byzantine empire made

them vulnerable to Muslim Conquest. The devastation may have also ushered in

the Dark Ages.

PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN

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1. "The Black Death, 1348." The Black Death, 1348. Ibis Communications, Inc, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm>.

2. "The Black Death, a Bubonic Plague of Great Dimensions â Part 1." WordFocuscom. N.p., n.d. ��Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wordfocus.com/word-black-death-pt1.html>.

3. "How the Black Death Worked." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/black-death.htm>.

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