-
The Bubonic Plague is Alive and Well
When we think of the plague, we imagine ages gone by, the middle ages in particular, safely contained inside the texts of detailed accounts in history books. Most of us don’t associate the plague with current times, but the truth is 10 to 20 people in the United States contract plague each year. In fact, infected mice from a lab in New Jersey escaped in 2005 and have never been found. In the news recently, we are warned of an increased risk of ancient diseases thawing back into existence; the Bubonic plague being one. An example is a 30,000 year old virus that has been brought back to life from its Siberian permafrost…
-
The Black Death
Timeline 430 B.C.- During the second year of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides writes about a disease that is believed to have been the Plague 540 A.D.- An outbreak of Plague occurs at Pelusium, Egypt. 542 A.D.- Plague reaches Constantinople. 1334- Plague occurs in Constantinople 1339-1346- The famine occurs. This goes on for seven years and is known as “the famine before the plague.” 1347- The Black Plague began spreading through Western Europe Fall 1347- Reports of the plague are recorded in Alexandria, Cyprus, and Sicily. Winter 1347- Plague then reaches Italy. Jan. 1348- Next, the plague reaches France and Germany. 1349- 1/3 of the population in Western Europe was dead…