plague outbreaks
Widespread disease events
Plague outbreaks are episodes when plague—the bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis—spreads rapidly through a population.
Historically, these outbreaks killed millions, most famously the Black Death of the 14th century.
The term applies both to bubonic plague specifically and more loosely to any epidemic surge of deadly disease: The city prepared for potential plague outbreaks after rats were spotted near the harbor.
- Black DeathMedieval bubonic plague pandemic
- fleasBiting insect parasites
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- ratRodent or informer
- Yersinia pestisBacterium causing plague
bring out your dead · mass graves · quarantine · social distancing · zoonosis · vaccination · surveillance systems · contact tracing · trade routes · transmission · flagellants · pathogen · mortality · boils · open sores · mask · public health campaigns · blood
- medical historyHippocrates, germ theory, bloodletting, Galen, four humors
- Venetian historyVenice, doges, Doge's Palace, Grand Canal, Rialto
- Medieval GermanyHoly Roman Empire, Charlemagne, Franconia, guild system, Swabia
- Midlands HistoryBirmingham, Norman Conquest, Coventry, Roman occupation, Leicester
- Southern ItalyNaples, Vesuvius, Sicily, Etna, Amalfi
- Balearic historyReconquista, James I, Roman conquest, British occupation, Treaty of Utrecht
plague outbreakshealth security
Protection of wellbeing from threats
sanitary conditions · herd immunity · clean bill of health · public health · wellness
plague outbreaksdisease eradication
Permanent global elimination of pathogens
epidemic control · disease prevention · localized infection · vaccination campaigns · immunization