bubonic plague outbreak, quarantined, viral, china

Bubonic Plaguer: The 411-First and second recorded Outbreaks-Part 4

The first recorded outbreak: The first recorded epidemic ravaged the Byzantine Empire during the sixth century, and was named the Plague of Justinian after emperor Justinian I, who was infected but survived through extensive treatment.  The epidemic is estimated to have killed approximately 50 million people in the Roman Empire alone. The historian Procopius wrote,…

Bubonic Plague: The 411 How is it Treated? Part 3

Several classes of antibiotics are effective in treating bubonic plague. These include aminoglycosides such as streptomycin and gentamicin, tetracyclines (especially doxycycline), and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin. Mortality associated with treated cases of bubonic plague is about 1–15%, compared to a mortality of 40–60% in untreated cases. People potentially infected with the plague need immediate treatment and…

Bubonic Plague the 411 Part 1

Bubonic plague Bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease, circulating mainly in fleas on small rodents, and is one of three types of bacterial infections caused by Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis), that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. Without treatment, the bubonic plague kills about two thirds of infected humans within four days. The…