Plague Research

Latin name of bacteria - Yersinia Pestis.

High fatality rate for centuries. Has wiped out entire civilizations.

First recorded outbreak: 541 A.D. lasted for 200 years.

Known as "The Black Death" in Middle Ages.

Infection usually spread by fleas of rodents as opposed to rodents themselves. Can also be contracted by handling infected material/tissue/liquids.

Three different forms of the Plague in Humans:

1. Bubonic Plague
• Symptoms
• Enlarged Lymph Nodes
• Chills
• Headache
• Fever
• Weakness
2. Sceptecemic Plague (The Black Death)
• Symptoms
• Fever
• Chills
• Weakness
• Abdominal Pain
• Shock
• Tissue Bleeds/Dies causing blackness
3. Pneumonic Plague
• Symptoms
• Chest Pain
• Shortness of Breath
• Coughing
• Fever
• Chills
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Plague Doctors

• Kept spices in their masks to ward off the plague, which was believed to be caused by miasma.

• Wore beak masks in conjunction with waxed (water-proof) coats to protect from infection.

• Plague doctors in Scotland carried a long stick with a sharp end to lance victim's boils at a distance. In other areas, canes were used to point out areas that needed attention and to keep people at bay.

• Theories at the time believed that the plague may have been carried by birds, masks were modeled as they were in hope of scaring off birds.

• Most Practicing Plague doctors were not medically trained, and their duties included inspecting people for plague symptoms, quarantining the sick and removing the dead more than actually treating them.

A Poem about Plague Doctors

In 1672, a physician named Dr. Hodges wrote a poem about this rather strange-looking garb. 

That poem is included in Wine: A Scientific Exploration (at page 42):

"As may be seen on picture here,

In Rome the doctors do appear,

When to their patients they are called,

In places by the plague appalled,

Their hats and cloaks, of fashion new,

Are made of oilcloth, dark of hue,

Their caps with glasses are designed,

Their bills with antidotes all lined,

That foulsome air may do no harm,

Nor cause the doctor man alarm,

The staff in hand must serve to show

Their noble trade where'er they go"