The plague also traveled with Genoese merchants back to Italy, first to the port of Messina in 1347, and then north through Europe over the next several years. The first cases of plague in Europe were spread by Genoese traders returning from Kaffa.
The plague that caused the Black Death originated in China in the early to mid-1300s and spread along trade routes westward to the Mediterranean and northern Africa. It reached southern England in 1348 and northern Britain and Scandinavia by 1350.
The original carrier for the plague-infected fleas thought to be responsible for the Black Death was the black rat. The bacterium responsible for the Black Death, Yersinia pestis, was commonly endemic in only a few rodent species and is usually transmitted zoonotically by the rat flea.
The disease originated in central Asia and was taken to the Crimea by Mongol warriors and traders. The plague then entered Europe via Italy, carried by rats on Genoese trading ships sailing from the Black Sea. The disease was caused by a bacillus bacteria, Yersinia pestis, and carried by fleas on rodents.
One of the worst pandemics in human history, the Black Death, along with a string of plague outbreaks that occurred during the 14th to 19th centuries, was spread by human fleas and body lice, a new study suggests.
It was reportedly first introduced to Europe when Mongols lobbed plague-infected corpses during the siege of Caffa in the Crimea in 1347. The Genoese traders fled, bringing the plague by ship into Sicily and Southern Europe, whence it spread.
Plague has occurred in people of all ages (infants up to age 96), though 50% of cases occur in people ages 12–45. It occurs in both men and women, though historically is slightly more common among men, probably because of increased outdoor activities that put them at higher risk.
The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. People gathered on the docks were met with a horrifying surprise: Most sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those still alive were gravely ill and covered in black boils that oozed blood and pus.
While a number of different life forms were involved in the plague the main players were the Black Rat, the Oriental Rat Flea and a tiny, rod-shaped bacterium that has no English name but is known to scientists as Yersinia pestis.
A number of theories exist as to where the 14th century plague originated and how exactly it spread. One of the most often cited is that it was carried by infected rodents across the Silk Roads, reaching Europe along with infected merchants and travellers.
1348 Europe suffered the most. By the end of 1348, Germany, France, England, Italy, and the low countries had all felt the plague. Norway was infected in 1349, and Eastern European countries began to fall victim during the early 1350s. Russia felt the effects later in 1351.
Q: Does it have other names? A: Today, it's best known as the Black Death or the bubonic plague. Medieval people called it "the blue sickness," La pest ("the Pestilence"), and "the Great Mortality." The name bubonic comes from the medieval Latin word bubo via Italian bilbo--meaning a pustule, growth, or swelling.
The Black Death was so extreme that it's surprising even to scientists who are familiar with the general details. The epidemic killed 30 to 50 percent of the entire population of Europe. Between 75 and 200 million people died in a few years' time, starting in 1348 when the plague reached London.
Called the Great Mortality as it caused its devastation, this second great pandemic of Bubonic Plague became known as the Black Death in the late 17th Century. Modern genetic analysis suggests that the Bubonic plague was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis or Y. pestis.
It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.
Historians traced the epidemic's path — it apparently began in China or near the western border of China and moved along trade routes to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. But Monica H.
The Black Death was the largest demographic shock in European history, killing approximately 40% of the region's population between 1347 and 1352. Some regions and cities were spared, but others were severely hit: England, France, Italy and Spain lost between 50% and 60% of their populations in two years.
This narrative contains some startling assertions: that the Mongol army hurled plague-infected cadavers into the besieged Crimean city of Caffa, thereby transmitting the disease to the inhabitants; and that fleeing survivors of the siege spread plague from Caffa to the Mediterranean Basin.
Plague bacteria are most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea. During plague epizootics, many rodents die, causing hungry fleas to seek other sources of blood.
Known for warfare, but celebrated for productive peace. Led by humble steppe dwellers, but successful due to a mastery of the era's most advanced technology. The Mongol Empire embodied all of those tensions, turning them into the second-largest kingdom of all time.
The three types of plague are the result of the route of infection: bubonic plague, septicemic plague, and pneumonic plague. Bubonic plague is mainly spread by infected fleas from small animals. It may also result from exposure to the body fluids from a dead plague-infected animal.
One medieval Christian understanding of the Black Death revolved around the Book of Revelation and its notion of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - pestilence, war, famine and death. Christians used this biblical context to rationalize and accept the horrible disease shaking Europe.
Bubonic plague is a bacterial illness that has been around for thousands of years. You can still get bubonic plague if you live in the western part of the U.S. or travel to certain parts of Africa or Central Asia, but it's uncommon in the U.S. Bubonic plague can be treated with antibiotics.
Known as the Black Death during medieval times, today plague occurs in fewer than 5,000 people a year worldwide. It can be deadly if not treated promptly with antibiotics. The most common form of plague results in swollen and tender lymph nodes — called buboes — in the groin, armpits or neck.
Bubonic plague is the most common form and is characterized by painful swollen lymph nodes or 'buboes'. Plague is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact with infected tissues, and inhalation of infected respiratory droplets.