The+Black+Death

The Black Death The Black Death was a very deadly disease and EXTREMELY contagious. The Black Death came from China in the years 1346 to 1347. What had happened was that the rats came in ships that came from China and the rats had fleas, and if the fleas were infected by the disease they necessarily gave the disease to rats . Hygiene in the Middle Ages wasnot observed, so they got ill much more faster. It started with a headache. Then chills and fever, which left him exhausted and prostrate. Maybe he experienced nausea, vomiting, back pain, soreness in his arms and legs. Perhaps bright light was too bright to stand. It became so bad that people afterward had to stay at home and not go out at any occasions. They had to stay there till they died because they didn’t have food and water because they didn’t go in and out. The Black death plague were transmitted by the bite of an infected flea. Fleas, humans, and rats served as hosts for the disease. The bacteria (//Yersinia pestis//) multiplied inside the flea blocking the flea's stomach causing it to be very hungry. The flea would then start voraciously biting a host. Since the feeding tube to the stomach was blocked, the flea was unable to satisfy its hunger. As a result, it continued to feed in a frenzy. During the feeding process, infected blood carrying the plague bacteria, flowed into the human's wound. The plague bacteria now had a new host. The flea soon starved to death. The Black Death victims in the Middle Ages were terrified of the deadly disease. The plague held a massive mortality rate between 30 and 40%. Victims had no idea about what had caused the disease, neither did the physicians in the Middle Ages. Although the government had [|medical workers] try to prevent the plague, the plague persisted. Most medical workers quit and journeyed away because they feared getting the plague themselves. If the plague had just stayed in one city, the containment might have spared Europe. Unfortunately, the plague spread when people fled to other cities. It is believed the plague originated in Asia, and moved west with Mongol armies and traders. Population was about 90 million and about 40million of them were killed.