The Plague 1348

Taylor Stockstad

"...Such fear and fanciful notions took possession of the living that almost all of them adopted the same cruel policy, which was entirely to avoid the sick and everything belonging to them. By so doing, each one thought he would secure his own safety.” - Giovanni Boccaccio

There are three forms of the Plague

BubonicPneumonic Septicemic

I will focus on the Bubonic Plague

It derives its name from the swellings or buboes.

Europe first experienced the “Black Death” between 1348

and 1350

It is believed the plague originated in Asia, and moved west with Mongol armies and

traders.

Efforts to Stop the Plague Seemed Useless

It had a devastating affect on Europe

The Population decreased by 25% to 50%

We can still see the memory

of its impact today    

 Ring a-round the rosy  Pocket full of posies  Ashes, ashes!  We all fall down!  

The reservoir of the plague bacteria is normally rodents.

The transmission of the Plague from Rodents was caused by the Oriental

Rat Flea.

There was a complex cycle of Transmission from flea to

human.

Symptoms of The Bubonic Plague

Symptoms normally took around1-7 days to appearSymptoms included:

HeadachesNauseaAching jointsFever Vomiting

Then. . .

A Sign of Impending Death Would AppearThese signs were swellings, called buboes, that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin.

All forms were caused by a rod -shaped bacterium called Yersinia pestis.

The Plague bacteria has the ability to avoid the innate immune response,

the body's front line of defense.

Yersinia Pestis can rapidly kill the host due

to it’s machinery. The bacteria can resist phagocytosis by injecting proteins called YOPS (Yersinia Outer Proteins) into macrophages and other immune cells.Thus, it rapidly spreads into the blood stream Reaching to the lymphnodes, where the swelling occurs and killing the host.

The Plague still

affects the U.S.

In the United States during the 1980s plague cases averaged about 18 per year. Most of the cases occurred in persons under 20 years of age. About 1 in 7 persons with plague died.

World Wide distribution of the Plague in 1998

An Effective Treatment does Exist Today

The drugs of choice are streptomycin or gentamycin, but a number of other antibiotics are also effective.

Prevention is an even better approach

The Plague Epidemic is still a Big Problem in Developing Countries.

Rural and urban areas of developing countries often have problems with rat infestation and are put at a higher risk of bubonic plague.

Unfair Distribution of Antibiotics is the Cause.

Bibiliographyhttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htmhttp://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Does-the-Plague-Bacteria-Attack-37281.shtmlhttp://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t2w13blackplaguep1ab.htmhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/index.htmhttp://whitefolksgreed.blogspot.com/2009/01/islamofile-011809-al-qaeda-camp-in.htmlhttp://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htmhttp://shkrobius.livejournal.com/237277.html?thread=1676253