The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea ... Learn about the history, symptoms, and causes of the bubonic plague that killed millions of people in Europe in the 14th century. Find out how the plague doctor costume, the Nuremberg Chronicle, and the rats were involved in the Black Death . Learn about the historical disease that caused widespread devastation in the past, transmitted by fleas or inhalation of respiratory droplets. Find out how to recognize the symptoms, such as fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, and how to prevent and treat the infection with antibiotics. Bubonic plague is a highly infectious disease spread by fleas that bite their hosts (usually rats and humans) and introduce the bacteria that cause the disease into their hosts’s bodies. Infectious diseases like the bubonic plague that spread rapidly among a community or region within a short period of time are called epidemics. The Black Death is the name given to the first wave of the plague that swept across Europe in the 1300s. It is called a pandemic because it spread across many ...
