Black Death:
The Black Death was an outbreak of disease that killed millions of people across Europe and Asia. Almost one out of every three people in Europe died from the disease, and was at its worst between 1347 and 1351 . The disease may have started in Asia. Most people think that the disease was the bubonic plague. This disease is carried and spread by fleas living on rats. Traders from the Silk Road may have brought the infected fleas to Europe.
Fleas started the problem; the infected fleas were carried by black rats. Rats that were carrying the fleas would go into cities. When the fleas bit somebody, they would inject a little bit of the bacteria into the wound. This would cause the person to be infected. Rats were often on ships. This meant the disease spread extremely quickly, all over Europe.
In humans, the disease caused swelling in the groin, under the arms and behind the ears. These swellings were a black and purple color, hence the name 'The Black Death'. The dark swellings were called buboes. People were in pain and victims died a horrible death. The symptoms could be seen 3—7 days after victims were bitten by a flea carrying the disease.
Several types of antibiotics are effective in treating bubonic plague. These include aminoglycosides such as streptomycin and gentamicin, tetracyclines (especially doxycycline), and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin. Mortality associated with treated cases of bubonic plague is about 1–15%, compared to a mortality of 40–60% in untreated cases.
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