ipl-logo

The Microbe Yersinia Pestis: The Plague In Europe

455 Words2 Pages

We all know that the plague brought a tremendous amount of hardship upon Europe. The microbe Yersinia pestis caused more than a 30% decrease in Europe’s population. This microbe, we also know, was found in rodents and fleas that were all over Europe. This then led to a “long term shortage of workers” and the eventual decline in feudalism (Zimmer 2015). The thing we all do not know is that this microbe seems to have been in existence thousands of years before the plague outbreak in Europe. A recent article published in The New York Times, reports that a new study, printed in the Cell Journal, has found evidence of Y. pestis to be “3,000 to 4,000 years old” (Zimmer 2015). While the article does touch on the key points the study had concluded, it does not present …show more content…

If one were to pick up the research study with no prior knowledge on anything related to the plague, they would have a lot of trouble trying to understand why the study was talking about different microbes instead of just the Y. pestis. The article found in The New York Times does not mention the fact that the study involved the microbe’s ancestor, Y. pseudotueberculousis. While the study was trying to find traces of Y. pestis in raw DNA sequences, the researchers also had to make sure that they were looking for the right microbe. Because there was no mention of this, the reader would think nothing other than the fact that the study must not have been very complicated. Zimmer, the author of the article, relays the information in the study with very little detail. The largely over-simplification of the information in the study does not allow readers to get all the information. For example, Zimmer reports “after acquiring the ability to infect fleas, Yersinia pestis may have begun to spread more readily form one rodent to another, eventually

Show More
Related

Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Essay

855 Words | 4 Pages

The Case of Jack Merridew The murders of Piggy and Simon have not gone unnoticed, and the kids from the island are all under question for their untimely deaths. The main suspect for their murders is Jack Merridew, one of the older boys on the island. The story originates in a book called The Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, about young boys who are stranded on the island. Jack is one of the older, more savage of the bunch, but he seems to be ill in the brain.

Read More

Year Of Wonders By Anna Frith

1098 Words | 5 Pages

On the contrary, there are fictional components. In the book, it says that the plague was introduced into the village along with George Viccars's bacteria-infected clothes, when in reality, it was spread by fleas on rats and it was brought into the

Read More

European Plague In The 1348 Versus 1352

881 Words | 4 Pages

The disease was spread by the vector Rattus rattus and transmitted to people by the fleas. This organism was not new to the world in the fourteenth century, as Europe had experienced the Justinian plague in 542 AD . However, the people of Europe did not have any natural immunity or understanding of the disease caused by a bacterium Yersinia pestis. The people became aware of the relationship between rat and fleas only in late nineteenth century .

Read More

Columbus Exchange Disease

998 Words | 4 Pages

Once the sailors returned home, they spread it throughout Europe. Not only did the disease reach Europe but also Russia, Hungary, Africa, the Middle East, among other places throughout the Old World. The second theory is that the disease had always existed in the Old World but that there had been records before the 1490s because the difference between other diseases had not been noticed. Recent discoveries of the bacterium that caused syphilis was found in a region of Guyana, South America. After much research it was proven that this deadly disease was truly from the New World which disproves the second

Read More

Atticus Finch And Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

425 Words | 2 Pages

In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the phrase “to kill a mockingbird” is often used. Since the book is named after this quotation, it is easy to say that this quote is significant to the book. A mockingbird could symbolize peace. Killing a mockingbird is often used literally and figuratively. The two characters that can be considered a “mockingbird” is Atticus Finch and Boo Radley.

Read More

Justinian Plague Essay

641 Words | 3 Pages

The causitive agent of the Plague is Yersinia Pestis. It is a gram negative, zoonotic and epizootic. It is a rod shaped bacteria that is a meiotrophic organism. Some scientist have developed CryptFind which is a method of theorectically testing the genomes. There are limitied rescourses for doing research since this bacteria poses such a threat to society.

Read More

Black Plague Research Paper

696 Words | 3 Pages

Insects have been biting and sucking the blood of humans and animals throughout history. Plague swept through early civilizations, killing millions of people. The Black Death was a plague pandemic that swept through Asia and Europe, killing possibly as many as 25 million people. It wasn't until the late 1800s that researchers figured out what caused this horrible disease that kept reappearing throughout history. They discovered that rats were also getting sick from the plague, and that infected people had fleabites from rats.

Read More

The American Plague: The Epidemic The Shaped Our History

1806 Words | 8 Pages

One of the biggest summer nuisance would be the mosquito, but more specifically the Ades aegypti mosquito. The Aedes aegypti is the vector for yellow fever and the cause of the numerous deaths. In her book The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic the Shaped Our History, Molly Caldwell Crosby presents the idea that the mosquito is not just the only reason an epidemic occurred in the 18th century. This story accounts for the disease that broke out across the world and nearly destroyed almost all of North America’s population, which some believe could have been avoided by simple quarantine analysis and sanitary methods.

Read More

Response To The Plague Dbq Essay

1097 Words | 5 Pages

During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place

Read More

Mongol Legacy

652 Words | 3 Pages

This shows how the Mongols used Biological Warfare against their enemies which as a result inflated into one of the deadliest pandemics in history, with estimates pointing to around one quarter or one third of Europe’s population dying.(Wheelis) This shows yet again that the Mongols caused such a widespread plague just trying to take a city over! As a result, the Mongols can be accredited to spreading the Black Plague to Europe which killed millions of people, in addition to the number of civilians they already

Read More

Blended Response: The Plague

654 Words | 3 Pages

I do agree with the author’s idea. The reason that I agree with the author is because his ideas reflect how regular people whose lives are disrupted by the plague evolve through living with this new evil amongst them. When people are encountered with evil they react differently. One example of this that I liked was from father Paneloux’s sermon in which he says, “Thus from the dawn of recorded history the scourge of God has humbled the proud heart and laid low those who hardened themselves against Him. Ponder this well, my friends, and fall on your knees” (Camus 102)

Read More

The Black Plague In Europe In The Late Middle Ages

199 Words | 1 Pages

Originating in medieval age Cambodia, Burma, and Vietnam, the Black Plague is a highly infectious disease that ravaged Europe in the Late Middle Ages, causing countless deaths and changes to society. The disease began when fleas carrying the bacteria would bite rats. These rats would then board ships used for trading, transferring the disease all across Europe and Asia. Thanks to the highly concentrated and overpopulated towns of France and England, as well as the lack of hygiene in said towns, the disease spread at a shocking speed, causing the deaths of entire towns, and affecting both commoners and nobles alike. After being infected with the disease, either through animal bites or other humans, symptoms would appear in a matter of days.

Read More

Persevastation Of The Black Plague

196 Words | 1 Pages

The Black Plague is known to be one of the most deadly pandemics in history, estimated to have killed 30-60% of Europe’s population in the series of outbreaks between the 14th and 18th centuries. The devastation of the plague was made much worse by the incomprehension of those affected by it. Y. Pestis, the bacteria which causes plague, was spread by infected hosts, including rats and fleas. However, the sparse knowledge of science and medicine led Europeans to blame other sources for the debilitating disease. Some believed the plague was the wrath of God, punishing the guilty for their sins.

Read More

The Impact Of The Bubonic Plague In China

1503 Words | 7 Pages

Ultimately, the bubonic plague evolved to spread from person to

Read More

Germ Theory Of Disease Analysis

705 Words | 3 Pages

Germ theory of disease is one of the theories in the biology field. Germ theory of disease supports that microorganisms that are germs are the cause of diseases. This theory was first proposed by Girolamo Fracastoro in the 16th century but he was not able to provide any evidence to strengthen his proposal. This theory was not accepted easily by the citizen between the 16th century to the 18th century. The pre-existence of miasma theory was the obstacle to the acceptance of germ theory during that period.

Read More

More about The Microbe Yersinia Pestis: The Plague In Europe

Related Topics

Open Document