Plague 1894 – The Black Death, the Wrath of God

The journalist Edward Marriott wrote:

“Plague. Even the word carries a terrifying echo. No other disease can claim such apocalyptic power: it can lie dormant for centuries and then reappear with the strength to destroy nations.”

When a plague epidemic spread through Hong Kong, a fierce race between two leading scientists there, the French-Swiss physician Alexandre Yersin and the Japanese physician Shibasaburo Kitasato, finally clarified the bacterial origin of plague. Dr. Yersin linked plague to the rod-shaped bacterium now called Yersinia pestis. Here is what some well-known figures said about plague: 

• The historian Norman F. Cantor: “The Black Death of 1348-49 was the greatest biomedical disaster in European and perhaps world history.” 
• The Arab historian Ibn Khaldun: “Civilization in the East and the West was brought to its knees by a devastating plague that destroyed nations and wiped out populations.”

The 14th-century plague —commonly known as the Black Death — killed more than one-third of Europe's population, with an estimated worldwide death toll of 75 million people. Plague is generally accepted to be caused by Yersinia pestis or its variants, usually carried by rats and fleas. People who contract plague develop swollen lymph nodes and may die within a few days. Europeans proposed theories about the cause of the disease ranging from astrological forces to the wrath of God.

The authors Lloyd and Dorothy Moote: “Building on the work of Koch and Pasteur and the achievements of Yersin and Kitasato, the germ hunters of the 20th century would develop the miracle drugs [antibiotics] that could be used in the long-sought treatment of plague.”

About the Article Image: An illustration of a Roman physician in 1656: during the 17th-century epidemic in Europe, physicians wore long-beaked masks, leather gloves and long trousers to protect themselves from plague. 

Historical Figures Mentioned in the Article: Shibasaburo Kitasato (1853–1931), Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin (1863–1943)

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