Origin of the plague

Origin of the plague

Scholars still debate where the epidemic known as the Black Death originated. One theory suggests that it began in China, where an epidemic that might have been plague was reported in the early 1330's. Researchers do agree that at some point after that, plague-infected rodents and fleas found their way into caravans traveling the Silk Road, a trade route across Asia.

From there, the bacteria that caused the plague could ride west to the Black Sea, where Italian merchants picked up Asian goods. In 1347, the disease struck the chain of ports linking the Black Sea with Italy, entering the Mediterranean port of Messina in October 1347. The plague reached France in 1348, England and Scandinavia in 1349, Germany in 1350, and Poland in 1351. Meanwhile, other trade routes carried it to Egypt, North Africa, and Spain.

Outbreaks continued every decade or so throughout the 1300's, but these were less severe, as survivors of each wave became immune. Plague bacteria disappeared from western Europe around 1700, but they remain in rodent populations in most other parts of the world, sometimes infecting humans.

Based on "Apocalypse Then: A History of Plague." The 1992 World Book Health & Medical Annual, pp. 166-181.