The Bubonic Plague once destroyed 60% of a population once. The Bubonic Plague, or Yertis Pestis bacterium, affects the Immune System, and causes lymph nodes to swell. The Immune System is responsible for the body’s immunity to pathogens. It causes much malfunction in the body, leading up to death if untreated.
The Immune System, which the cell attacks, is responsible for warding off enemies from the body. It consists of many parts, most notably lymph nodes, white blood cells, and lymphocytes.. When an infection is spotted, white blood cells swarm it and attack it. If the white blood cells cannot handle the infection, lymph nodes create lymphocytes, which attack the infection with renewed force, and help prevent infection in the future (Human Biology 149).
The Yertis Pestis bacteria cell is a bacteria cell, which means that it is a very small cell. It’s smaller than a lot of plant and animal cells, but bigger than most viruses. The cell has relatively few organelles. It has a cell membrane, cytoplasm, and ribosomes. Instead of a nucleus, it’s genetic material is floating around in a tangled string in the cytoplasm (Cells and Heredity 24). The cell resembles an oval, and can be found bunched up in random patterns.
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Before antibiotics, the death rate was about 66%. The swollen black lymph nodes were thought to give it the name Black Death (“Black Death”). The black color from the lymph nodes comes from dried blood inside it. Sometimes, external “treatment” can cause other diseases (“Bubonic Plague”). The disease is highly contagious, and is spread faster in dirty conditions (“Black Death”). There is a vaccine for the disease, but it’s not permanent and isn’t commercially available. Antibiotics used are often tetracycline and sulfonamide (“Bubonic