What was the death toll for London, due to the Bubonic Plague by 1596? Or, what was the death rate for Europe

Question

i cant seem to find an accurate number. can you confirm my answers with answers of your own.

Answer 1

Historical epidemics
The first Western literary account of a possible outbreak of plague is found in the book of Samuel V of the Hebrew Bible. In this account, the Philistines of Ashdod were struck with a plague for the crime of stealing the Ark of the Covenant from the Children of Israel. These events have been dated to approximately the second half of the eleventh century B.C. The word "hemorrhoids" is used in English translations to describe the sores that came upon the Philistines. The Hebrew, however, can be interpreted as "swelling in the secret parts". The account indicates that the Philistine city and its political territory were struck with a "ravaging of mice" and a plague, bringing death to a large segment of the population.

In the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 B.C.), Thucydides described the coming of an epidemic disease which began in Ethiopia, passed through Egypt and Libya, and then came to the Greek world. Athens was decimated by this plague, losing a possible third of its populace, including Pericles (Speilvogal, J, 1999, pp. 56). In spite of the loss in population, this did not affect the progress and outcome of the war. This epidemic has long been considered an outbreak of bubonic plague. However, from Thucydides' description, some modern scholars dispute the assignment of plague, feeling that smallpox or measles may be better candidates.

In the first century AD, Rufus of Ephesus, a Greek anatomist, refers to an outbreak of plague in Libya, Egypt, and Syria. He records that Alexandrian doctors named Dioscorides and Posidonius described symptoms including acute fever, pain, agitation, and delirium. Buboes—large, hard, and non-suppurating—developed behind the knees, around the elbows, and "in the usual places." The death toll of those infected was very high. Rufus also wrote that similar buboes were reported by a Dionysius Curtus, who may have practiced medicine in Alexandria in the third century B.C. If this is correct, the eastern Mediterranean world may have been familiar with bubonic plague at that early date. (ref. Simpson, W.J., Patrick, A.)

The last significant European outbreak of bubonic plague occurred in Russia in A.D. 1877–1889 in rural areas near the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea. This outbreak is sometimes seen as an extension of the Third Pandemic (see below). Efforts in hygiene and patient isolation reduced the spread of the disease, with approximately 420 deaths in the region. Significantly, the region of Vetlianka in this area is near a population of the "bobak", a type of small marmot considered a very dangerous plague reservoir.

Historical pandemics
Plague of Justinian
For more complete information, see Plague of Justinian.
See also Climate changes of 535-536.
The Plague of Justinian is the first known pandemic on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague in A.D. 541–542. This outbreak is thought to have originated in Ethiopia or Egypt. The huge city of Constantinople imported massive amounts of grain, mostly from Egypt, to feed its citizens. The grain ships may have been the source of contagion for the city, with massive public granaries nurturing the rat and flea population. At its peak the plague was killing 5,000 people in Constantinople every day and ultimately destroyed perhaps 40 percent of the city's inhabitants. It went on to destroy up to a quarter of the human population of the eastern Mediterranean.

In A.D. 588 a second major plague wave spread through the Mediterranean into what is now France. A maximum figure of 25 million dead is considered a reasonable estimate.

Black Death
For more complete information, see Black Death.
"Doctor Schnabel von Rom" (English: "Doctor Beak of Rome") engraving by Paul FГјrst (after J Columbina). The beak is a primitive gas mask, stuffed with substances (such as spices and herbs) thought to ward off the plague.
During the mid-14th century, the Black Death, a massive and deadly epidemic, swept through Eurasia, killing one-third of the population (according to some estimates) and changing the course of Asian and European history. The 200 million victims constituted the largest death toll from any known epidemic of any disease. Many scientists and historians believe the Black Death was an incidence of bubonic plague. A strong presence of the more contagious pneumonic and septicemic varieties increased the pace of infection, spreading the disease deep into inland areas of the continents.

Plague continued to strike parts of Europe throughout the 15th century, the 16th century and the 17th century with varying degrees of intensity and fatality. Researchers still do not agree on why large outbreaks of the infection have never returned to Europe. However, changes in hygiene habits and strong efforts toward public health and sanitation probably had a significant impact on the survival of the disease.

Third Pandemic
For more complete information see Third Pandemic.
The Third Pandemic began in China in 1855, spreading the bubonic plague to all inhabited continents, and ultimately killing more than 12 million people in India and China alone. Casualty patterns indicate that waves of this pandemic may have been from two different sources. The first was primarily bubonic and was carried around the world through ocean-going trade, transporting infected persons, rats, and cargos harboring fleas. The second, more virulent strain was primarily pneumonic in character, with a strong person-to-person contagion. This strain was largely confined to Manchuria and Mongolia. Researchers during the "Third Pandemic" identified plague vectors and the plague bacillus, leading in time to modern treatment methods.

Plague as a biological weapon
Plague has a long history as a biological weapon. Historical accounts from medieval Europe detail the use of infected animal carcasses, by Mongols, Turks and other groups, to contaminate enemy water supplies. Plague victims were also reported to have been tossed by catapult into cities under siege.

During World War II, the Japanese Army developed weaponized plague based on the breeding and release of large numbers of fleas. During the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, Unit 731 deliberately infected civilians and prisoners of war with the plague bacillus. These subjects, called "logs", were then studied by dissection, some while still living and conscious. After World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union developed means of weaponizing pneumonic plague. Experiments included various delivery methods, vacuum drying, sizing the bacillus, developing strains resistant to antibiotics, combining the bacillus with other diseases, such as diphtheria, and genetic engineering. Scientists who worked in USSR bio-weapons programs have stated that the Soviet effort was formidable and that large stocks of weaponized plague bacillus were produced. Information on many of the Soviet projects is largely unavailable. Aerosolized pneumonic plague remains the most significant threat.[1][2]

Worldwide distribution of plague infected animals 1998
Contemporary cases
The disease still exists in wild animal populations from the Caucasus Mountains east across southern and central Russia, to Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and parts of China; in Southwest and Southeast Asia, Southern and East Africa (including the island of Madagascar); in North America, from the Pacific Coast eastward to the western Great Plains, and from British Columbia south to Mexico; and in South America in two areas: the Andes mountains and Brazil. There is no plague-infected animal population in Europe or Australia.

Globally, the World Health Organization reports 1,000 to 3,000 human cases of plague every year.

In September 2005 the Associated Press reported that three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory. The mice were unaccounted-for at the Public Health Research Institute, which is on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and conducts bioterrorism research for the United States federal government.