Bubonic Plague

"In 1970, a World Health Organization study concluded that deliberate dissemination of 110 lbs (50 kg) of aerosolized Y pestis over a city with a population of approximately 5 million people could potentially result in 150,000 cases of pneumonic plague . Half of these cases would require advanced medical care and approximately 20% would be expected to perish" (Bubonic Plague 14).

Control

"The most effective way to prevent bubonic plague is the maintenance of adequate sanitary conditions. This acts to control the rodent population, especially in urban centers" (Bubonic Plague 14).

Control

"This plague destroyed the attempts of the Roman emperor of the day to re-establish a Roman empire in Europe. This is only one example of how bubonic plague has changed the course of history" (Bubonic Plague 6).

Empire

"Symptoms of infection in humans begin within days after contamination with the plague bacterium. The bacteria enter the bloodstream and travel to various organs (e.g., kidney, liver, spleen, lungs) as well as to the brain. Symptoms include shivering, nausea with vomiting, headache, intolerance to light, and a whitish-appearing tongue. Buboes then appear, followed by rupture of blood vessels. The released blood can coagulate and turn" (Bubonic Plague 12).

Symptoms

"Unfortunately, the vaccine is protective for only a few months. Use of the vaccine is usually reserved for those who will be at high risk for acquiring the bacterial infection (e.g., soldiers, travelers to an outbreak region" (Bubonic Plague 13).

Vaccine

"Bubonic plague is a disease that is typically passed from rodents to other animals and humans via the bite of a flea. The flea acquires the bacterium that causes the disease as it lives on the skin of the rodent. Humans can also acquire the disease by direct contact with infected" (Bubonic Plague 3).

Intro

"Bubonic plague is named because of the symptoms. The bacterial infection produces a painful swelling of the lymph nodes. These are called buboes. Often the first swelling is evident in the groin. During the Middle Ages, a pandemic of bubonic plague was referred to as the Black Death, because of the blackening of the skin due to the dried blood that accumulated under the skin's surface" (Bubonic Plague 5).

Intro

"Bubonic plague is transmitted via fleas infected with Yersinia pestis . Pneumonic plague results from plague bacterium investing lung tissue. Pneumonic plague exhibits an airborne form of transmission. Infection occurs from breathing aerosolized bacteria. Untreated pneumonic plague is highly lethal" (Bubonic Plague 2).

Intro

"The plague of London in 1665 killed over 17,000 people (almost twenty percent of the city's population). This outbreak was quelled by a huge fire that destroyed most of the city" (Bubonic Plague 7).

London

HOYLE, BRIAN. "Bubonic Plague." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, vol. 1, Gale, 2004, pp. 144-145. U.S. History in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3403300112/UHIC?u=udlib_stmarks&xid=2fdb2575. Accessed 8 Feb. 2018.

MLA Citation

" Antibiotics such as tetracycline or sulfonamide are used more commonly as a precaution for those who might be exposed to the bacterium. Such use of antibiotics should be stopped once the risk of infection is gone, to avoid the development of resistance in other bacteria resident in the body" (Bubonic Plague 13).

Treatment

"If the infection is untreated, the death rate in humans approaches 75%. Prompt treatment most often leads to full recovery and a life-long immunity from further infection. Prevention is possible, since a vaccine is available" (Bubonic Plague 13).

Treatment