Modern antibiotics are effective at treating the plague, but plague infections can cause death if they are not identified and treated promptly. Prior to the development of sulfonamide antibiotics, the mortality for all plague infections was between 66-93 percent. there have been an average of just 7 cases of plague a year in recent decades. However today there are fewer than 5,000 cases of plague a year, and in the U.S. In the Middle Ages, plague was responsible for the death of an estimated 50 million people, or 60 percent of Europe’s population at the time. In fact, there hasn’t been a case of person-to-person transmission of pneumonic plague documented in the U.S. It requires close, sustained contact in order to spread. Pneumonic plague is the only form of plague that can be transmitted person-to-person. Globally, plague epidemics have occurred in South America, Asia, and Africa, where recent epidemics have occurred in smaller villages or towns. Most human cases of plague in the United States occur in northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, California, southern Oregon, and western Nevada. The bacteria that cause plague, Yersinia pestis, is transmitted to humans who are bitten by fleas that have fed on infected animals, by handling infected animals, or inhalation of infected respiratory droplets. Pets, particularly cats, are also at risk of contracting Y. Carnivores can also be infected if they consume infected prey. It is found primarily in semi-arid forests and grasslands and most commonly affects animals such as squirrels, voles, rabbits, and prairie dogs. There are five forms of plague: bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic, meningeal and pharyngeal. Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa.The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |