Plague Facts

TheNextTurn sent me an email with some facts, he wants to see if we agree on. TheNextTurn we be blue and I will be black. I have not omitted any of his argument but I will post my responses as we go.

Timeline: The plague hit different parts of Europe and Asia between 1300 – 1600AD.
Number of deaths: 30-60% of Europe’s and Asia's population was affected, amounting to about 75 million deaths.

30-60% of Europe is what I understand to be the standard numbers but I don’t know of any data about the Asia numbers at all please give me some source on this. It seems to have appeared in Europe in the 1300’s. I presume it was finished in Asia by then. (emedicen talks about an earlier outbreak that is supposed to have happened in the Middle East.) I thought 25 million was the accepted European number and I don’t know of a good count for Asia at all.

The Disease: Although other diseases did contribute, Yersinia pestis (Bunonic Plague) was by far the most common since.

We will agree on that.

The Spread: The disease was spread by fleas, which had a high resistance to the disease. The infected fleas would further infect land mammals such as farm animals, dogs and cats. But rodents were by far the most common mammal to spread the disease due to their high birth rate. Mamanals were most vunerable to the disease.

It is also possible to catch the Bubonic Plague from direct contact with infectious bodily fluids or inhalation of the infectious air droplets. It is contagious and airborne.

Mortality Rate: BP had a mortality rate of ninety to ninety-five percent.

I am not sure of the morality rate for the ancient world. However we can guess using numbers from the modern third world in which about 50% of bubonic plague patients who fail to receive any antibiotic treatment die. I am willing to give that the numbers were larger in ancient Europe. I find it unlikely that people were well cared for when civilization was in disarray from this plague however 95% is still unlikely.

Addendum:septicaemic plague and pneumonic plague do have death rates as high as 95%