Bacteria As The Cause Of The Black Death

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The “Black Death” was one of, if not the most devastating pandemics to sweep the earth since humans have populated it. It was widely thought to be caused by a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis and in recent studies and research, evidence has made a strong case for the confirmation of that bacteria as the cause of the Black Death. Graves in Europe that were tied to that time period and the Black Death showed traces of that bacteria in both southern and northern Europe (Haensch et al. 4). In the 14th century about 20-30 years before the outbreak of the Black Death, there was a great famine occurring in much of Europe and coincidentally the same was happening in a large part of Asia along with China. The occurrence of these famines caused a large