The Bubonic Plague :: essays research papers

The Bubonic Plague is one of the most deadly diseases of all time as well as one of the most famous. Although it is not common these days to see it, it was widespread during the medieval times where millions had died. It was so widespread, it was said that there was not enough living to bury the dead. Rodents ran the unsanitary streets that carried the fleas that had the disease. This is how the Bubonic Plague was spread. It was believed at the time by the people that the gods were punishing them for things they had done wrong in the past. The Bubonic Plague is transmitted either though an infected rodent (rats, rabbits, etc.) carrying bugs (fleas). A person will become ill two to six days after being infected with the Bubonic Plague. It was first thought that the rats themselves transmitted the Bubonic Plague because when people found dead rats in the towns' streets, they would usually flee their civilization in fear of the rodents. But in 1898, Simond observed that people would only get the disease if you came in contact with a rodent or rat that was dead for a short amout of time. Simond also discovered that if you were in contact with one that had been dead for more than twenty-four hours, the chance of catching the Bubonic Plague would be quite minimal. It is called the Bubonic Plague because once you have the disease, it will, in most cases, cause lymph glands to swell up and become very tender with pain. These swollen glands are called "buboes". If the Bubonic Plague is left untreated, the bacteria will enter the blood stream and travel to other places inside the body like organs such as lungs, liver, and the spleen. If it does enter the lungs, it can cause a pneumonic form of the Bubonic Plague. The symptoms for this are high fever, chils, cough, and breathing difficulty. They may even spit up blood, depending upon how severe the infection is. Like I said earlier, the Bubonic Plague is not very common these days, but that is because we live in the United States where our sanitary level is fairly high. But in Africa, Asia, and South America, several people die from it every year. In fact, there is reported that world wide tehre are one thousand to three thousand cases of the Bubonic Plague each year. In the United States, the Bubonic Plague is only