Research Paper Bubonic Plague

The “Black Death” or bubonic plague that occurred in the middle ages, precisely about 1347 to 1351, was a catastrophic plague, or severe illness, that traveled to Europe and infected and killed at least 25 million people. Unfortunately for the Europeans at that time, there was no medical knowledge to cope with this disease. Ultimately, what made this plague so deadly was that the symptoms were fatal and it spread very quickly. In today’s time, the bubonic plague is easily treatable and the symptoms are not severe. But in the middle ages, little medical knowledge of this plague made these symptoms extremely severe and most likely lethal. Symptoms include: painful swelling of lymph glands, fevers, headaches, fatigue, muscular pain, and also upper respiratory symptoms. Because of these symptoms, the plague was feared all throughout Europe and could completely obliterate a town depending on how rapidly it spread. Therefore, the symptoms of this infection were most likely fatal because of the lack of medical

I learned that because of the lethal symptoms and rapid spread, the “Black Death” would be one of the most catastrophic events in mankind killing at least 25 million. People died so swiftly and in such high numbers that burial pits were dug, filled, and then abandoned. Bodies (sometimes including the living) were shut up in houses and burned to the ground, and often corpses were left where they died in the streets. There is no doubt that the bad habits of the local populations, that included throwing human waste into the streets, sharing polluted water, and the freedom of pigs and livestock to graze in the city, all contributed to an environment that provided the perfect breeding ground for this disease to spread. In the end, I learned that the spread and symptoms of the “Black Death” would leave an everlasting impression in the world because of the causalities it