The Black Death, the bubonic plague, those are two names for the same disaster, one of the worst in recorded history, killing between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population of England, not to mention all the people killed in Asia and Africa. The name bubonic plague is a misconception, there were actually three forms of plague: the Bubonic, the Pnuemonic, and the Septicemic plagues, and they were all caused by the same germ, Yersinia Pestis. Yersinia Pestis, once called Pasteurella pestis1, "is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped coccobacillus, a facultative anaerobic organism"1. A Gram negative baterium can't be stained by crystal violet stain. This kind of bacterium has an extra, outer layer, that is made of proteins, that keeps the stain out9. Rod shaped
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This is where they become facultative anaerobes5, where they can make energy with or without oxygen. The genus is Yersinia, which is a further classification of the family. Some factors unique to Yersinia are: it can survive down to 1-4 degrees celsius6, or 33.8-39.2 degrees fahrenheit and it is "relatively quickly inactivated by oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate solutions"6. Not to mention the fact that rodents are the most likely …show more content…
Sometimes Yersinia Pestis enters the blood stream, either by metastasized bubonic plague or by bypassing bubonic altogether, then it turns into Septicemic plague; which is the rarest of the three. Like Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague doesn't normally spread from person to person; unlike Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague has a 99%-100% mortaility rate, if left untreated (its a good thing it is the rarest of the three. Another difference between the two, is that the person bleeds on the inside, often into the skin; this symptom replaces the buboes. When Yersinia Pestis settles in the lungs, mostly by breathing poluted air, it turns into pneumonic plague, the deadliest of the three. It has a 100% mortaility rate, if not treated within 24 hours. This is the only one of the three that is normally spread from person to person, and it doesn't involve rats and fleas at all. ""[T]he pneumonic" plague affects the lungs. and vic tums choke on their own blood." (The middleages.net) Some symptoms include: headache, fever, chest pain, rapidly developing pneumonia, respiratory failure and
This is where they become facultative anaerobes5, where they can make energy with or without oxygen. The genus is Yersinia, which is a further classification of the family. Some factors unique to Yersinia are: it can survive down to 1-4 degrees celsius6, or 33.8-39.2 degrees fahrenheit and it is "relatively quickly inactivated by oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate solutions"6. Not to mention the fact that rodents are the most likely …show more content…
Sometimes Yersinia Pestis enters the blood stream, either by metastasized bubonic plague or by bypassing bubonic altogether, then it turns into Septicemic plague; which is the rarest of the three. Like Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague doesn't normally spread from person to person; unlike Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague has a 99%-100% mortaility rate, if left untreated (its a good thing it is the rarest of the three. Another difference between the two, is that the person bleeds on the inside, often into the skin; this symptom replaces the buboes. When Yersinia Pestis settles in the lungs, mostly by breathing poluted air, it turns into pneumonic plague, the deadliest of the three. It has a 100% mortaility rate, if not treated within 24 hours. This is the only one of the three that is normally spread from person to person, and it doesn't involve rats and fleas at all. ""[T]he pneumonic" plague affects the lungs. and vic tums choke on their own blood." (The middleages.net) Some symptoms include: headache, fever, chest pain, rapidly developing pneumonia, respiratory failure and