Comparing Justinian's Plague And The Black Death

The plague epidemics of the 6th, 14th, and 17th century are commonly known as Justinian’s Plague, the Black Death, and the Plague of 1665, respectively. Yersinia pestis was the major source of the plague in all three epidemics. Modern DNA analysis studies showed that Y. pestis has a strong correlation with victims of the Black Death in the 14th century. However, although these modern studies show biologically that Yersinia pestis was the cause of the Black Death, many scientists are skeptical and believe that the disease may have been typhus (Nutton). Another study shows a link between Justinian’s Plague and the Black Death (Nutton). Because some of the DNA analysis is not one hundred percent accurate, it would be wiser to rely on first hand …show more content…
It just so happens that the Xenopsylla cheopis favors to feed on the black rat. The X. cheopis flea, once infected, can transmit the Yersinia pestis over to the black rat. The rodents, therefore, became perfect carriers for the disease. The rats are not naturally long travelers , which made trade an excellent way to spread disease. Also, rats did not initially become sick with plague, so rats can go for miles and miles without being symptomatic. Infected rats would travel onto merchant ships and when they would dock into a new port city, the rats would exit.
Because fleas naturally go after rats, fleas in these new cities would bite the inflicted rats and become a vector for the plague, thus further increasing the amount of disease about the city. Xenopsylla cheopis make a great vector of the plague because the disease takes about a year to kill them off, so it makes the extermination of a plague epidemic quite difficult to vanquish. The fleas can submit itself to a multitude of mammals as well as humans. The X. cheopis can be seen in the following epidemics of …show more content…
With the claims of being isolated and healthy, people were confused as to how they fell ill. The majority of the plague harbored in the poor parishes of London. Unfortunately, hygiene was not realized as trigger for outbreak. With the animals being cared for in such a close proximity to the houses, London became more susceptible to fleas, which harvested nutrients from domesticated animals, which they would then turn and feed on the people. The animals in turn would also become infected, so the meats would become engorged with Y. pestis and people would ingest it not knowing their fate. With garbage and sewage flooding the streets, this gave rise to the accumulation of the black rat scavenging through the city, giving the Yersinia pestis another access point into the human