The Black Death Pandemic

The Black Death Pandemic

Written by Anthony Ogundipe

The Black Death Pandemic, also called the plague, the great mortality or the pestilence, was a widespread and deadly disease.It was a Bubonic plague pandemic that happened  in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It was the most fatal pandemic recorded in the history of the international world that led to the death of over 75-200 million people; it started in Europe between 1347 to 1351. The pandemic was caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis which was spread by fleas while in the black death it took a secondary form,spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols, causing pneumonic plague.

 The Black Death was the start of the second plague pandemic. It caused major religious, social, and economic changes, shaping European history. The origin of the Black Death is debated, but genetic analysis suggests it evolved from Yersinia pestis in the Tian Shan mountains. It was likely introduced to Europe during the siege of Kaffa in Crimea and spread through fleas on black rats aboard Genoese ships. The Black Death mainly spread person-to-person as pneumonic plague, explaining its rapid inland spread. It's estimated to have killed 30-60% of the European population.

Way back in the 14th century, public health officials were used in medieval times to fight the Black Death 

( photo credit: History.com )

In 2017, studies showed that the plague likely infected humans in Europe and Asia during the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age. In 2018, evidence of Yersinia pestis was found in an ancient Swedish tomb, possibly linked to the "Neolithic decline" around 3000 BCE. This Y. pestis may have been different from modern types, with bubonic plague transmitted by fleas, as seen in Bronze Age remains near Samara.

According to ancient medical authorities, the symptoms of bubonic plague were documented before the reign of Trajan in the Roman Empire. In 2013, researchers confirmed that the Plague of Justinian was caused by Y. pestis, marking the first plague pandemic. Chinese physicians in the 6th and 7th centuries also described similar symptoms, suggesting the spread of the plague from the west to China. 

Yersin, a student of Pasteur, discovered Y. pestis during a plague epidemic in Hong Kong in 1894. He found that rats were the main carriers, and Simond later established that fleas transmit the bacteria through aggressive feeding behavior. The disease relies on two populations of rodents, one resistant and one susceptible, to maintain its cycle. When the susceptible population dies, fleas move on to other hosts, including humans, causing an epidemic.

Skeletons in a mass grave from 1720 to 1721 in Martigues, near Marseille in southern France, yielded molecular evidence of the orientalis strain of Yersinia pestis, the organism responsible for bubonic plague. The second pandemic of bubonic plague was active in Europe from 1347, the beginning of the Black Death, until 1750. (Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Medical Faculty of Paris believed that a combination of planetary alignment caused the Black Death (miasma theory). Muslim scholars saw it as a divine martyrdom or punishment. Some Muslim doctors followed European preventive measures and treatments, while others believed it was a disease sent by God. Because of changes in the climate, rodents in Asia started moving from dry grasslands to more populated areas, spreading the disease. The plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is commonly found in fleas carried by ground rodents in different regions. Alexandre Yersin, a student of Pasteur, discovered Y. pestis during a plague epidemic in Hong Kong in 1894. He found that rats were the main carriers, and Paul-Louis Simond later established that fleas transmit the bacteria through aggressive feeding behavior. The disease relies on two populations of rodents, one resistant and one susceptible, to maintain its cycle. When the susceptible population dies, fleas move on to other hosts, including humans, causing an epidemic.In 2010, scientists like Haensch et al. used DNA analysis to confirm that Y. pestis caused the Black Death. They also found genetic evidence from victims in England. Later studies showed that the Black Death strain is related to modern Y. pestis strains. Barney Sloane, an archaeologist, argues that there isn't enough evidence of rat extinction in medieval London to support the idea that Y. pestis spread through fleas on rats. He suggests that person-to-person transmission was more likely. Recent research in 2018 also supports the theory that body lice and fleas played a role in transmission during the second plague pandemic.