bubonic plague
Medieval pandemic scourge
Bubonic plague is a severe bacterial infection transmitted by fleas from infected rodents, causing swollen lymph nodes called buboes, fever, and often death.
The disease devastated medieval Europe as the Black Death, killing roughly a third of the population.
Modern antibiotics can treat it, but untreated cases remain deadly: Cases of bubonic plague still occur in rural areas of the American Southwest.
Medieval bubonic plague pandemic
- fourteenth centuryYears 1301-1400
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- EuropeSmallest inhabited continent
- Middle AgesEurope's feudal millennium
mass graves · flagellants · death toll · depopulation · social upheaval · labor shortage · peasant revolts · chroniclers
Bacterium causing plague
- buboInflamed lymph node swelling
- lymphadenitisSwollen, infected nodes
- feverElevated body temperature
- chillsShivering spells from illness
septicemia · necrosis · gangrene · hemorrhage · inflammation · toxins · antibiotics · streptomycin
Isolation preventing disease transmission
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- public healthCommunity-level disease prevention
sanitation · epidemiology · surveillance · prophylaxis · isolation · containment · health crisis · notification
Cessation of life
- decimationNear-total destruction
- fatality rateProportion of deaths occurring
- casualtiesThose killed or wounded
- corpsesDead human bodies
burial · gravediggers · bring out your dead · depopulation · survivors · death toll · mortality rate · devastation
Puncture from jumping pest
- vector-borneSpread by organism intermediaries
- zoonosisAnimal-to-human disease transmission
- contagionDisease spread by contact
- transmissionSending of information
infection cycle · endemic · reservoir · infestation · vermin · rats · prairie dogs · marmots
Artistic death reminder
- danse macabreAllegorical mortality theme
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
- biblicalOf sacred texts
- divine punishmentJudgment from a deity
scapegoating · persecution · superstition · Grim Reaper · pestilence · Albert Camus · folklore · fear
Black Death
Medieval bubonic plague pandemic
- fourteenth centuryYears 1301-1400
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- EuropeSmallest inhabited continent
Middle Ages · mass graves · flagellants · death toll · depopulation · social upheaval · labor shortage · peasant revolts · chroniclers · Decameron
Yersinia pestis
Bacterium causing plague
- buboInflamed lymph node swelling
- lymphadenitisSwollen, infected nodes
- feverElevated body temperature
chills · septicemia · necrosis · gangrene · hemorrhage · inflammation · toxins · antibiotics · streptomycin · doxycycline
quarantine
Isolation preventing disease transmission
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
public health · sanitation · epidemiology · surveillance · prophylaxis · isolation · containment · health crisis · notification · contact tracing
death
Cessation of life
- decimationNear-total destruction
- fatality rateProportion of deaths occurring
- casualtiesThose killed or wounded
corpses · burial · gravediggers · bring out your dead · depopulation · survivors · death toll · mortality rate · devastation
flea bite
Puncture from jumping pest
- vector-borneSpread by organism intermediaries
- zoonosisAnimal-to-human disease transmission
- contagionDisease spread by contact
transmission · infection cycle · endemic · reservoir · infestation · vermin · rats · prairie dogs · marmots · fleas
memento mori
Artistic death reminder
- danse macabreAllegorical mortality theme
- apocalypticPertaining to ultimate devastation
- biblicalOf sacred texts
divine punishment · scapegoating · persecution · superstition · Grim Reaper · pestilence · Albert Camus · folklore · fear · terror
- Flea Diseases
- diseasescancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, influenza, measles
- illnessdisease, sickness, illness, ailment, disorder
- infectionsviral infection, bacterial infection, fungal infection, parasitic infection, bacteremia
- infectious diseasescholera, anthrax, malaria, measles, flu
- medievalknights, castles, cathedral, kings, queens
bubonic plagueinfluenza
Acute viral respiratory infection
pneumonic plague · tuberculosis · COVID-19 · measles · smallpox
bubonic plagueperfect health
Complete physical wellbeing
wellness · vitality · robust health · good health · vigor
bubonic plaguemedical breakthrough
Significant advance in treatment
vaccination · antibiotics · Renaissance · germ theory · penicillin