Bubonic plague is an infectious disease caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae (Cunningham 6). Fleas from one rodent to another spread the disease. Humans get the disease when infected fleas bite them. Consequently, patients develop swollen lymph nodes around the fleabite site known as buboes. When the bacterium reaches the lungs, infected persons develop pneumonic plague. This spreads from person to person through droplets released when coughing. At this stage, patients die within 24 hours.
The deadly bubonic plague outbreak on medieval Eurasia first occurred in China around 1330s and spread to Western Asia and Europe. It weakened the Chinese dynasty, a superpower at the time owning the largest seagoing fleets. It also whipped a third of Europe’s population as 25 million persons died between 1347 and 1352 (Pearson 23). This fundamentally changed the social and economic conditions of Europe. The plague altered land ownership and government order due to the drastic reduction in population that led to severe labor shortage. This led to increased agricultural prices and wages. The governments of the day sought to control prices but they failed. Religion wise, the plague brought challenges to the Catholic Church. People questioned why prayers went unanswered and this led to emergence of philosophical views characterizing the renaissance period.
Later bubonic plague outbreaks witnessed in British India and China late 19th and 20th century left millions dead despite availability of antibiotics (Benedict 17). The plague outbreak in India started in Bombay around 1896. Devastating effects increased due to the pathetic climatic status at the time that caused the great famine. British authorities raised the minimum wage and extended relief to the locals during the rainy season to counter the plague.
Works Cited
Benedict, Carol. Bubonic plague in nineteenth-century China. Stanford, California: Stanford Uni. Press, 1996. Print.
Cunningham, Kevin. The bubonic plague. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub, 2011. Print.
Pearson, Stephen. Bubonic plague: the Black Death! New York: Bearport publishers, 2010. Print.
