2. A plague is a bacterial infection found mainly in rodents and their fleas. The fleas can sometimes leap to humans. When it does, the outcome can be horrific Most infamous of all was the Black Death which reached Europe in the late 1340s, killing an estimated 25 million people. In London, England, one in three residents died.

3. One of the symptoms produced a blackening of the skin around the swellings(or buboes). The buboes were red at first, but later turned a dark purple, or black. When a victim's blood was let the blood that exuded was black, thick and vile smelling with a greenish scum mixed in it. The Black Death was spread by fleas that were carried by rats or other small rodents As many as 7500 victims of the disease were dying every day

4.  By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all the land they could cultivate  A population crisis developed  Climate changes in Europe produced three years of crop failures between 1315-17 because of excessive rain  One consequence of starvation & poverty was susceptibility to disease

5. Historians think that the plague arrived in England during the summer of 1348. Few villages escaped. Churchyards were full with bodies. At the end of 1350 nearly two and a half million people were dead in England alone!

7. Symptoms include the following: Bubonic plague symptoms appear suddenly, usually after 2 - 5 days of exposure to the bacteria 1)Fever 2)Chills 3)Myalgias (pain in the muscles) 4)Sore throat 5)Headache 6)Weakness 7)Malaise (bodily weakness or discomfort) 8)Enlarged, painful, swollen lymph node 9)Abdominal pain - Only presenting symptom more common in a patient presenting with septicemic plague (primary blood-borne plague) versus one presenting with bubonic plague 10)Nausea, vomiting (bloody at times) 11)Constipation, diarrhea, and black or tarry stools 12)Gastrointestinal complaints (may precede a bubo) 13)Cough, which may be productive of bloody sputum 14)Shortness of breath 15)Stiff neck

17. T he most common form of the Black Death was the BUBONIC PLAGUE! This disease was spread by fleas which lived on the black rat. The fleas sucked the rat’s blood which contained the plague germs. When the rat died the fleas jumped on to humans and passed on the deadly disease.

20. -Bathing was seasonally (maybe 4 times a year) -Same water in tub used by family members -Clothes were not routinely washed -Waste was thrown onto the streets -Piled up -Often waited for rain to wash away -Waste deposited into streams -Used for bathing, drinking and cooking -Clothes handed down (sometimes not cleaned) -Clothes of death taken and sometimes given out (often time as is) -Homes were not the cleanest

22. Vinegar and water treatment If a person gets the disease, they must be put to bed. They should be washed with vinegar and rose water Lancing the buboes The swellings associated with the Black Death should be cut open to allow the disease to leave the body. A mixture of tree resin, roots of white lilies and dried human excrement should be applied to the places where the body has been cut open. Bleeding The disease must be in the blood. The veins leading to the heart should be cut open. This will allow the disease to leave the body. An ointment made of clay and violets should be applied to the place where the cuts have been made.

24. Diet We should not eat food that goes off easily and smells badly such as meat, cheese and fish. Instead we should eat bread, fruit and vegetables Sanitation The streets should be cleaned of all human and animal waste. It should be taken by a cart to a field outside of the village and burnt. All bodies should be buried in deep pits outside of the village and their clothes should also be burnt. Pestilence medicine Roast the shells of newly laid eggs. Ground the roasted shells into a powder. Chop up the leaves and petals of marigold flowers. Put the egg shells and marigolds into a pot of good ale. Add treacle and warm over a fire. The patient should drink this mixture every morning and night. Witchcraft Place a live hen next to the swelling to draw out the pestilence from the body. To aid recovery you should drink a glass of your own urine twice a day.

25. Unaware of the cause of the disease, people took to  burning incense,  dipping handkerchiefs in aromatic oils,  ringing church bells and firing cannons,  wearing talismans,  bathing in human urine,  placing "stinks" (dead animals) in their dwellings,  bleeding via leeches and bloodletting,  drinking the pus extracted from a suppurated bubo (Total Yuck!),  applying dried toads to relieve the pain of the buboes by absorbing the "poisons,"  drinking liquid gold or powdered emeralds (only for the very rich, of course), and  joining groups of flagellants.

27. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article/ http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/highmiddle/plague.htm http://uhavax.hartford.edu/bugl/histepi.htm http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/plague/ http://www.goodhealthtipsonline.com/2011/03/bubonic-plague-history-cause-symptom.html http://theblackdeathmb.blogspot.com/ http://diseasentreatments.com/2011/12/bubonic-plague-or-black-death/ http://blackdeathts.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-were-symptoms-of-black-death.html http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/reviews/black-death-150610 http://uhavax.hartford.edu/bugl/histepi.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cures_for_the_black_death.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/829233-clinical http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000596.htm http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/black-death.htm http://webs.wichita.edu/mschneegurt/biol103/lecture14/feet_lesions.jpg http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/publichealth/blackdeath.aspx