Details of the Three Great Pandemics of Plague

Plague disease is deadly to humans and is transmitted from animals like fleas. This disease generally occurs due to poor sanitation and a large population. This plague has an outbreak as a pandemic in ancient history in many places and regions, affecting many health problems and millions of deaths. This disease mostly occurs in areas of villages of agriculture and poor condition of the water and food in the village. 

In the 14th century, millions of deaths occurred in Europe, which decreased a lot of the population, and this was caused due to the black death, a deadly disease named plague. That was called the plague pandemic. Then in the 19th century, a huge pandemic occurred with the spread of this disease in Asia worldwide, causing many deaths. This has resulted in three great pandemics in history.

Definition

The plague is a bacterial illness, sometimes called the black death or pestilence in the air. The bacteria known as Yersinia pestis are the ones responsible for causing this illness. These particular bacteria are most often found in animals, but they may be passed on to people, where they can lead to life-threatening health issues. In most cases, it is transmitted by the fleas themselves after being bitten.

Symptoms and Signs

From ancient times till now, many signs and symptoms have been noticed in people having plague disease. Generally, the symptoms are like flu symptoms shown after two to 6 days of getting infections. Hence, here are the symptoms which are noticed in people.

Bubonic Plague Symptoms

The symptoms are shown in humans after two to eight days of being infected by the plague.  You will notice the following signs:

• Headache
• Fever and chills
• Weakness
• Muscle pain

Along with these mentioned symptoms, one will also feel the pain and swollen lymph glands. This is also termed ‘buboes’. This swelling occurred in the armpits, necks, and groin.

Pneumonia plague symptoms

Pneumonia plague symptoms will be noticed after a day of getting infected by the bacteria, and the signs make the body of the people very fragile. The symptoms shown are :

• Headache
• Weakness in the whole body
• Trouble in Breathing
• Chest pain
• Fever
• Cough

Another sign experienced is the pus and mucus in the lungs, also called bloody sputum.

Septicemic plague symptoms

Septicemic plague symptoms start occurring in humans after a few days of getting g infected, but this one is deadlier as this can lead to death before any symptoms appear in the body. That means the human can die even without knowing the reason and won’t be able to get treated medically. The signs which are noticed in these symptoms are:

• Diarrhoea
• Shock
• Skin turning black
• Extreme weakness in the body
• Abdominal pain
• Vomiting 
• Nausea
• Fever and chills
• Bleeding

History

The plague pandemic arrived in Afro-Eurasia in 1346 and lasted till 1353. This was recorded as the fatal pandemic in history. It caused the death of more than 200 million people, including in North America. Then it spread over to Europe from 1347 to 1351. This is how the cycle of three great pandemics started.

The second plague pandemic of the three great pandemics started as the black death. It originated in Central and East Asia but is said to begin in Crimea and then spread through the Mediterranean basin. 

The three great pandemics plague diseases recorded in 541, 1347, and 1894 CE caused great devastation and death to humans across the globe. The three great plague pandemics had originated from different places and spread from different paths and routes. The three different plagues were the Justinian plague of 541, which was started in Central Asia and then spread over the parts of Egypt and the Mediterranean. The second pandemic of plague was the black death of 1347, which began in Asia and greatly spread over to Crimea and then moved to Europe and Russia. It causes millions of deaths in the region. Then the third pandemic of the three great pandemics started in Yunnan and China in 1894, and the plague slowly spread to India and Hong Kong. The pandemic afterwards started spreading all around the continents.

Conclusion

A human being may get infected with a serious illness known as a plague either because of being bitten by infected fleas or coming into contact with infected fleas. The epidemic of the plague began, and as a result, it has been responsible for the destruction and loss of life of millions of people throughout the continents. However, a solution for it has been found, and today antibiotics and other medical care may be used to treat it successfully.