Plague, Great

Plague, Great
The "Great Plague" that swept London in 1665 was probably not really the plague but rather typhus. The plague is a highly contagious, infectious, virulent, devastating disease due to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis which mainly infects rats and other rodents that serve as the prime reservoir for the bacteria. Fleas function as the prime vectors carrying the bacteria from one species to another. The fleas bite the rodents infected with Y. pestis and then they bite people and so transmit the disease to them. Transmission of the plague to people can also occur from eating infected animals such as squirrels (e.g., in the southeastern U.S.) Once someone has the plague, they can transmit it to another person via aerosol droplets. The word "pestilence" comes from "pestis," the Latin word for "plague." Because the plague was responsible for so many deaths, the plague and death have long been linked in literature. The 14th- century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer spoke of "pestilence" in "The Pardoner's Tale": "Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth, / That in this contree al the peple sleeth, / And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo, / And wente his wey withouten wordes mo. / He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence." "La Peste" (The Plague), a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning 20th- century French writer Albert Camus, is set in the Algerian city of Oran overrun by a deadly epidemic of the plague.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Great Plague of London — A bill of mortality for the plague in 1665. The Great Plague (1665–1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England (modern day United Kingdom) that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London s population.[1] The disease… …   Wikipedia

  • Plague (disease) — Plague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis) . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents (most notably rats) and spread to humans via fleas. Plague is notorious throughout… …   Wikipedia

  • Plague — Plague, n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. ?, fr. ? to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. {Plaint}.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Plague mark — Plague Plague, n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. ?, fr. ? to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. {Plaint}.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Plague spot — Plague Plague, n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. ?, fr. ? to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. {Plaint}.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • plague — plaguer, n. /playg/, n., v., plagued, plaguing. n. 1. an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence. 2. an infectious, epidemic disease caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, characterized by fever, chills, and prostration,… …   Universalium

  • Great Plague of Seville — The Great Plague of Seville (1647–1652) was a massive outbreak of disease in Spain that killed up to a quarter of Seville s population.Unlike the plague of 1596–1602 which claimed 600,000 to 700,000 lives, or a little under 8% of the population,… …   Wikipedia

  • Great Plague of Vienna — The Great Plague of Vienna occurred in 1679 in Vienna, Austria, the imperial residence of the Austrian Habsburg rulers. From contemporary descriptions, the disease is believed to have been bubonic plague, which is caused by the bacterium Yersinia …   Wikipedia

  • Great Fire of London — This article is about the Great Fire of 1666. For other great fires in London, see Early fires of London or Second Great Fire of London . The Great Fire of London, a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday,… …   Wikipedia

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