The Great Plague Of Europe Essay -- Diseases/Disorders

The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the â€Å"Black Death†. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times. The Great Plague of Europe made its way all throughout the continent and its population. The plague started on the western side of Europe; off the coast of Italy. It arrived by sea between the fall of 1347 and through early spring 1348. Italy was affected so hard that only one out of seven victims would recover in those parts. The plague reached Spain, France, England and Russia before making its way to the East within three years. The medieval pandemic swept through Asia as well, China was most affected as it lied in the center of travel. The Black Death was caused through various transmissions. The most common cause was through rodents. Rodents such as rats had been seen all over the cities. These rats carried excessive amounts of fleas with them. The fleas itself are what caused the actual spread, from the rats to the human populations, by ingesting the infected blood from its host. The pandemic then spread from one area of Europe to the next, by trade routes, after the rats boarded upon merchant ships and traveled down the rivers. The most common water way used was the black sea. The disease spread from the port cities to the surrounding countryside. A few ports tried to stop all ships from entering in hopes of not getting infected, but instead it just spread more when they turned to an inviting port near by. It spread ... ...dren.about.com/od/theblackdeath/a/death_defined.htm>. Wattenburg, Ben. "Human extermination." Gadsden Times [Alabama] : A4+. Web. 20 May 2012. . "black death." History.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 1996-2012. Web. 20 May 2012. . "Killing Game." Blogspot.com. N.p., 27 Dec. 2006. Web. 8 May 2012. . "Plague the black death." national geographics 1996-2012: 1+. Web. 4 May 2012. "The Black Death, 1348." eyewittnesstohistory.com. eye wittness to history, 2001. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. .