What caused the Black Death/Great Plague?

Question

I know that Black Death was caused by bacteria called Yersinia Pestis. This bacterium lived in rats and other rodents and that fleas lived on these rodents and transmitted the bacteria to humans by biting them.
Please can someone expand on it?
Please if you are repling to this could you include what I wrote.
I would be very greatful.

Answer 1

Well the Plague started in Europe. It was a combination of things that started it however. The first factor was that there were too many people living really close to each other in the cities such as Paris and London. You're right about the rodents giving the plague to the people but the cities were really unclean during that time too. So the real fault falls to the humans.
I mean when you think about it they used horses who tended to poo in the middle of the street and they didn't have any kind of sanitation measures in place. So because the streets were so dirty the bacteria was aloud to grow. Then the rodents running around in the streets got sick from the water and sewer. The rodents in turn helped give the plague to the people but some also got it from the water. Then since the plague is a very contagious disease once a few people got the plague it spread like wild fire because everyone was living so close to each other.
The way they tried to stop it was to put the sick in a cave somewhere outside of town and just let them die. Nice huh. Well some people weren't that cruel and went into the caves to try and save the people. That usually cost them their lives but they did wear masks which helped a little. Some people survived the plague and other never caught it. And that is why we are not all dead today.

Answer 2

Sanitary standards at the time were none existent. In addition, the "Little Ice Age" fell wiping out crops. What little was left to eat was held closer or inside the homes so the rats went for it. The fleas came with. As the plague spread, people migrated away from the infected areas actually contributing to the spread of the disease because they may already have been infected. All it took was for a flea to bite one human in a family and then transmit it to other humans without the rats as a carrier. The humans, in effect took the place of the rats. As the humans migrated, the fleas rode along and they couldn't care less if the host was human or rat so as the flea population rose in turn, so did infected rats and the cycle continued. However, the plague came in two forms, Bubonic spread by the bites and Neumonic spread by direct contact or breathing in the bacteria much like a cold or flu is spread.

Answer 3

What caused the Black Death/Great Plague?
I know that Black Death was caused by bacteria called Yesenia Pestis. This bacterium lived in rats and other rodents and that fleas lived on these rodents and transmitted the bacteria to humans by biting them.
Please can someone expand on it?
Please if you are rep ling to this could you include what I wrote.
I would be very grateful.
Not sure how to expand on this as its pretty obvious that the people back then lived amidst rat infestation, plus the quality of medical care was inadequate to treat the diseases of the day. Couple that with the poor quality of personal hygiene and you have the ideal makings for just about any form of parasitic disease. Like the old saying goes, when you lie down with dogs, don't be surprised you wake up with fleas. Now I don't know whether people slept with their dogs or not, but the precept is valid, don't you think?

Answer 4

Floors at the time were typically made of straw which gave the rats a good place to live, and allowed the fleas to easily stay when the rats were gone.
Sanitation in England at the time was terrible.
Many groups suggested this as a possible cause, but were ignored and assumed to be crazy--remember, people were also going around beating themselves and others because that was supposed to stop the plague as well.
It was also spread intentionally by people. It was relatively common to try to kill off an older relative with money by touching things owned by victims (clothing, hankies, etc.) to door knobs and such in the relatives home.

Answer 5

As for stocks going down; every person whose answered thus far is a reason stocks go down like they have recently. Stocks rise and fall because people who have NO idea how investing works, invest in the market. Usually with such extreme fluctuations it's someone too timid about their investment to ride out a shift and they knee-jerk sell when they should be buying. However, I think you just want the specifics so here we go. Stocks go up as trading (interest) increases. The more a stock is sold the more it becomes worth. Thus the inverse is true. When someone panics and sells mass amounts of stocks they begin to trend downward and when that happens other small investors freak and start selling. This leads to big losses in the market; sort of like what happened today. These losses are not representative of the company's value but instead show the ineptness of most traders.

Answer 6

there were many outbreaks spanning hundreds of years, in asia and europe some were more well documented or happened in larger cities such as the great plague in london. It still exists today in south western USA prarie dogs, but can be treated if recognized. Middle aged armies knew of this disease and launched infected bodies into a city during a siege, helping to spread the disease.

Answer 7

"Black Death was caused by bacteria called Yersinia Pestis. This bacterium lived in rats and other rodents and that fleas lived on these rodents and transmitted the bacteria to humans by biting them."

The rats seem to have come into Europe via Mediterranean seaports, and into England as trading vessels came there.

One the virus crossed over to humans, it became airborne and communicable by proximity, though it travelled best in moisture such as cough product.

Most survivors were those who, ignorant of why it might help, shut themselves up in their houses or evacuated to the countryside until the contagion had passed.

Answer 8

The plague was introduced to Europe by Italy, merchants. It is a bacteria, really dangerous and easily spreadable, mainly due to lack of hygiene. (Rats and other rodents)

Answer 9

The rat and flea stuff has been repeated mindlessly because rats are so revolting, but in fact it is increasingly discredited. Die ratios and examination of bones support a viral theory.

Answer 10

fleas on rats.