The bubonic plague, also known as Black Death, is one of the many types of plague that affected humanity along the centuries. The dreadful fact about the bubonic plague is that the rate of death was 90%. The most common symptoms of the bubonic plague were fever, delirium, headache and general weakness, sore throat and abdominal pain, shortness of breath and other difficulties in the respiratory process, nausea and vomiting and especially swollen lymph nodes. Another dreadful detail is that these terrible symptoms and the high rate of death may be spread from person to person only by coughing or talking.

Three epidemics of bubonic plague affected humanity during the 6th, 14th and 17th centuries. It is estimated that during the 6th century the bubonic plague killed almost 50% of the population of the Mediterranean area and Middle East. Some other epidemics had taken the lives of almost 40% of the population. And this is not all about the horrible effects of the bubonic plague, as in only one year it took the lives of 2 million people. That is why the feelings associated with the bubonic plague were and are fear and terror even nowadays.

The bubonic plague is considered to be a disease that lives and develops in deserts, mountains and forests, being capable of hiding its bacteria for ages and appearing suddenly for taking more lives than in the previous cases. The fact that plague in general was eradicated is not sure and that is why many people still live with the fear of a new epidemics. Moreover, the bubonic plague and other types of plague are thought to be the interest of the bioterrorism and in this case any type of plague may be a more than powerful weapon.

There are some other interesting and at the same time dreadful details about the bubonic plague. The fact that it may be transmitted with the help of almost 200 of different hosts, basically rodents, may scare anyone because of the other implications. Even the domestic animals may be the hosts of the bacteria and may contribute to the development and expansion of the bubonic plague among humans. The rat flea is known to be the vector of the bubonic plague and 30 species of fleas are able to transmit the bacteria of the bubonic plague.

New studies sustain the possibility of the first bubonic plague in Egypt. It seems that there are archaeological evidences of this theory although many researchers sustain that the starting point of the bubonic plague is central Asia. In Europe the bubonic plague gained its name of Black Death due to the black rats and their fleas that are responsible for the sudden and rapid spread of the bacterium – Yersinia pestis. The name of the Black Death seems to have another explanation – the fact that the color of the skin of the affected people was almost black, a dark grey nuance. England was affected in 1348, taking the lives of over a million of people in 4 years.

The European bubonic plague seems to have been caused by the rats brought by sailors from Asia, where almost 35 million people died because of it. The poor sanitary and hygiene conditions helped the bubonic plague to spread easily and take the lives of people with a great power. Some other factors that contributed to the rapid invasion of the bubonic plague were the poor development of medicine and the improper conditions for the meat storage and preparation. There are possible cases of the bubonic plague development in isolated places with rat invasions and poor sanitary conditions although the modern medicine claims to have the power to eradicate the epidemics.