The Plague The Great Plague - 1064 Words

Containing a Pandemic: The Great Plague Although plague continues to emerge around the world, there was an outbreak so large in the medieval era that it threatened to wipe out entire continents. The vast devastation that began in Asia and spread to Europe is likely the most deadly pandemic in human history. There were many reasons for the lack of containment, from ignorance of its origin to the lack of anything to stop its deadly trail. The disease struck and killed with terrifying speed, leading Italian writer Boccaccio to declare, its victims â€Å"ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise.† Certainly, modern medicine understands plague and now has treatment available; however, history will reveal how easily a pandemic can resurface and become deadly once again. History of the Great Plague For years, historians taught the Black Death of Europe originated in China, but some modern researchers believe it began in spring 1346 in the Russian steppe region, where a plague reservoir stretches from the Caspian Sea into southern Russia (Benedictow, 2005). For centuries, plague was catastrophic because the cause was unknown, causing mass panic where it appeared. Although there have been other outbreaks of plague, nothing compares to the pandemic widely known as the â€Å"Black Death† or Great Plague. The Great Plague of Europe claimed approximately 60% of the population, decimating entire towns. The death count was so astronomical in some places, that onShow MoreRelatedThe Great Killer : The Forgotten Plague998 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Killer By the 19th century, Tuberculosis or â€Å"consumption,† also known as â€Å"The Forgotten Plague,† had killed nearly one in seven of all the persons who had ever lived in America. This â€Å"plague† affected nearly everyone who lived in America, whether it was their father, mother, sister, or brother. It affected women, men, and even children. These victims suffered from bloody hacking coughing, unbearable pain, and fatigue. At this time, no one knew what caused it and how to cure it. Many believedRead MoreThe History of the Great Plague Essay1253 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Plague was one of the most destructive diseases ever in the history of mankind. This Plague spread through China and eventually made its way to Europe and killed around 50 million people. During this time the Great Plague dominated and brought the worst out of people. This pestilence started in Europe during the 14th century. Around this time period the population was growing rapidly a nd the food supply was scarce due the severe weather. Winters were especially cold and very dry becauseRead MoreEssay on The Great Plague Of Europe1536 Words   |  7 Pages The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the â€Å"Black Death†. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times. The Great Plague of Europe made its way all throughout the continent and its populationRead MoreThe Plague Of Doves And The Great Gatsby1743 Words   |  7 Pagesoften avoid them, hoping to escape the instances that surrender us to social embarrassment. On a different scale, this holds true in the literary works we’ve explored this year. Although the characters in the works The Plague of Doves, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and The Great Gatsby come from different backgrounds and hold a variety of intersectional identifiers, they encounter similar steps while attempting to life lives separate from their historic lineage. The characters in the works developRead MoreThe Positive Effects of the Great Plague Essay616 Words   |  3 PagesThe Great Plague was a pandemic that killed many people, and for the people from the olden times the plague equaled painful death; it was torture. As a result, many people categorize ‘the Great Plague’ as a catastrophe that had caused huge damage in Europe, but without this epidemic, we many not have had substantial changes that lead us to the modern day we have now. The Great Plague was an outbreak that killed a third of population in Europe. It was a scourge that originated in the arid plainsRead MoreThe Black Plague in Great Britain838 Words   |  3 Pagesknights and castles, royals and peasants, plague and famine, war and death. In the 1300’s a devastating plague swept across of most of Europe and Asia. It killed millions of people. Upon reaching Britain it killed over one-third the population. The Black Death, in only a few years, had left a permanent mark on Britain, its economy, the feudalism system and its culture through the cause of the major population decline in the 14th century. The Black Plague or Black Death is believed to have begunRead MoreEssay on The Bubonic Plague and the Great Fire of London893 Words   |  4 PagesThe Bubonic Plague and the Great Fire of London Two disasters struck London during the 1660s with the first being an outbreak of bubonic plague, the last and worst of a series that had started in the 1300s. The latter disaster was the great fire of London in which a Bakery broke out in flames near to the London Bridge when many of Londons houses became sources of combustionRead MoreThe London Plague Of 1348 And 16651692 Words   |  7 PagesThe London Plagues of 1348 and 1665 The London Plagues refers to two periods of disease outbreak in England. One plague, the Black Death, began in 1348. Another plague, the Great Plague, began in 1665. Both of these outbreaks killed a substantial amount of the population at the time. The plague exists in two forms: bubonic and pneumonic. A bubonic plague is spread by flea bites and results in painful sores on the body. A pneumonic form of the plague is airborne and spread by coughing and sneezingRead MoreThe Epidemic Of The Bubonic Plague1226 Words   |  5 Pagesportion of the earth. The Bubonic Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small animals and their fleas. It is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact, inhalation and rarely, ingestion of infective materials. Locations The second pandemic, widely known as the Black Death or the Great Plague, originated in China in 1334 and spread along the great trade routes to Constantinople andRead MoreBubonic Plague Research Paper1709 Words   |  7 PagesBubonic plague is an infectious disease that is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. These bacteria remain in a dormant state primarily in a rat flea’s foregut. Once the flea has bitten a victim it regurgitates the contents in its foregut into the bite location. Once the bacterium has entered into a mammal’s warm body it begins to reproduce and spread throughout the mammal’s body. The reproduction of this bacterium creates large painful swollen lymph nodes which are called buboes. Once these buboes