Did you know that "Black Death" is the most devastating pandemic in human history till date? The bacterium "Yersinia pestis" is believed to be the cause. In this Now You Know we'll find out how this plague affected the world.
75 to 200 million people in Eurasia died from this bubonic plague, mostly in Europe between 1347 and 1351. This pandemic brought about several major social and economic changes including hygiene standards, and created religious movements that made the Europe that we see today.
It probably originated in Central or East Asia from where it travelled along the Silk Road to Crimea by 1343. It is believed that fleas feeding on black rats living on Genoese merchant ships spread it throughout the Mediterranean Basin, and to the rest of Europe via the Italian peninsula.
But why is it called the "black" death? Is it because rats are black in colour? It's possible but people infected with it had gangrenes on their bodies which caused their skin and flesh to die and turn black too.
Most victims with flea-bites died within two to seven days of initial infection from acute fever, vomiting blood and breathing difficulties. The plague took three forms. Some people had lung infections which led to breathing difficulties. Anyone with this symptom died within two days. Some victims had boils appearing under their armpits. The third form gave people of both sexes tumours in their groin.
This plague is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population and reduced 25% of the world's population. It took 200 years for Europe's population to recover to normalcy. Some parts in Italy, like Florence took 500 years to recover from the population loss.
Can this mean Europeans are so rich today because most of their ancestors lost their fight with rats 700 years ago? Something to think about, isn't it?
