PLPA 2003 Lecture 6: The Black Death
Document Summary
Black death: originated in asia, spread through europe (1347-1351) via major trade routes silk road, killed 50-100 million people (30-60% of european population) Numbers would not recover for 150 years: probably bubonic plague. Bubonic plague = black death: yersinia pestis, symptoms. Black hemorrhaging in tissues: incubation 2-6 days, death, sepsis (get in bloodstream) & multiple organ failure within a week (50-75% mortality rate if untreated, treatment (current) Pathogenesis: yersinia pestis: can replicate within macrophages. Rupture plasma membrane: possession of appropriate antibodies allows marcrophages to destroy y. pestis. How did it spread: many animal reservoirs: 30 wild species (sylvan) Thursday, february 8, 2018: urban animal reservoirs: black and brown rats, vector: fleas. Y. pestis forms bio lm in stomach bile which starves ea causing repeated feeding attempts on multiple hosts. Get into lung tissues (humans to human respiratory). Bubonic plague current importance: today relatively low. The plague doctor: often non-trained or licensed, hired by communities, treatments centered around draining buboes, humoral.
