Tag: black death

The Black Death, or bubonic plague, is one of the most infamous epidemics of the western world. The disease spread across most of Europe, killing between 75 and 250 million people in the space of 7 years. The plague was caused by Yersinia Pestis, a bacterium of the enterobacteriaceae family which could kill an infected human in 3 to 7 days. This particular strain of bacterium has reappeared multiple times since the 14th century, but could we expect to see a full resurgence of the bubonic plague in our modern times? The bubonic plague was an illness that ravaged most of Eurasia. It first presented with buboes, blackened and swollen lymph nodes around the armpits and groin which often leaked pus and would bleed when pierced. After that came a high fever and hematemesis, or the vomiting of...