Cause And Effects Of The Bubonic Plague

Many believe the Bubonic plague first began at sea around October 1837 in Europe. They believe it came to land when ships coming through the black sea ported at the Sicilian port of Messina and the sailors that survived thereof successfully passed it on to the unsuspecting victims of Europe. However, the first sightings of the bubonic plague sprouted up around the 6th century. The emperor at the time (Justinian 1) named it the Justinian plague beginning in 541 AD, it then lived up to its name and killed up to 25 million people at the time (Rosen 2007). It then moved on to china in 1334 where it achieved the name “The Black Plague” or “Great Plague” where it found its way along trading routes and settled in Constantinople and Europe. When in these cities the plague’s death toll increased significantly, …show more content…
Yersinia Pestis is a gram-negative bacillus that it not motile and has bipolar staining. Although is usually transmitted to humans through a flea bite from a flea that previously fed on an infected rodent. It can be transferred to humans in three known ways. First is mentioned above with a flea bite by an affected flea. Second is through contact with contaminated fluid or tissues of an infected animal. The most common way is when hunters skin or consume animals with the bacteria without taking proper precautions resulting in bubonic or septicemic plague. The last way humans can be infected is through contact with infected droplets. It can be transferred pneumatically in rare cases when the bacteria relocates to the lungs through the blood stream. When a person with pneumonic plague coughs, they release bacteria filled droplet into the air. If an unsuspecting person inhales these droplets they can be overcome with pneumonic plague, although this type of transmission requires close and direct contact with a person infected with pneumonic