The Horrific Past

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How unsanitary was this era? Did you know the common phrase, “God bless you” began during the plague? Many historians compare the black plague to the holocaust of medieval times. Bodies were almost tortured by the disease itself. It was very common to see many lying on the streets. It became extremely common to find huge trenches piled with bodies. For these simple reasons, it is compared to the holocaust. Day to day life like this became normal to the very few that survived. Sanitation was critical at this point. The bacteria itself could be spread through air whether it was a dead body or alive. This became a critical point for those that were alive. Many

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avoided going out. A lot of the non- infected just stayed inside and never went out, which back in that time was a very smart choice considering the plague could be spread through the air. People

also wore face masks in order from catching it airborne. It was said that those who went near the trenches went “face to face” with death. Some walked around barefoot, farm animals could walk in the towns and their feces along with them (History.com). Along with dead bodies, and infected animals, trash and clutter became another issue. There was no access to dumpsters or nightly sweeps. It was almost as if these people had no way out. If the plague did not kill them, the environment they lived around surely would.

As mentioned previously, history has a bad habit of repeating the bad more than the good. Events like the plague and other similar one’s matter because it teaches us what has happened and what can occur around us still today. The black death is not necessarily an extinct

disease. As of present day, there is a similar plague happening in Africa. This plague is known as, The Black Death. On October 16, three hundred and eighty- seven cases had been reported and one hundred sixty- seven in the heavy populated capital. One of the biggest problems the government is having is trying to control the outbreak. According to government it takes approximately two weeks after the first case to even detect the disease. The most heart broken country is an island off the coast of Africa called Madagascar. African is known to be the country of plague spreading diseases. The African people call this the plague season, it runs from September through April. A question everyone is asking is how did the new Black Death get started in Africa? The culprit is a thirty-one year old man traveling from his home in Toamasina, a town off the east coast of Madagascar. Four days after he came down with the disease the man

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just assumed he had malaria a normal disease that is common in Africa. After he became ill he boarded a bush taxi and then a minibus, making the journey home, passing through the capital. On the way he developed horrible symptoms, indicating the disease had spread to his lungs. Shortly after arriving home he had passed away. Sadly, during the thirty- one-year old’s journey he had become in contact with thirty- one people, out of those thirty- one people, four had died. Again, this disease had spread very rapidly almost like wildfire, On October 5, 2017 there was two hundred and fifty-eight cases, and then by that following Monday there were three hundred eighty-seven cases. That is a lot of cases considering this is just the beginning of the plague season. People in Africa always dread the plague season think about who wouldn’t dread the plague season? However, the health authorities are fearful that the disease is spreading furthermore than ever. The pneumonic plague is already being reported all around the country. In fact, twenty districts across the country, including the far north and the west coast were reporting

the plague was indeed affecting them. One major question that residents are asking are what steps are you taking to prevent it? So far, the Antananarivo government has temporarily closed all universities and schools for sanitary measures. Madagascar’s poorly equipped health system is one of the many challenges in defeating the spread of the horrific black death that has no hit Africa (Dixon).

As you can see there already is another plague epidemic that is among us. However, there are measures that we can now take to try to prevent the further spread of the plague disease. Now that we have learned about the plague and the horrific scenes from the past, scientist today have found an antibiotic that can help cure the disease. So, “ring around the rosy, pockets full of poses, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” This song has been the song to represent the past, the past

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that nearly wiped out an entire country. The past that was compared to the horrific holocaust. The past that scientists have vowed to try to prevent. So, with knowing how the black death killed, and how it spread so fast, and how to prevent it, our world hopefully will not ever have to go through that kind of devastation ever again.

Works Cited

- “History of Black Death.” AllAboutHistory.org, www.allabouthistory.org/history-of-black- death.htm.

- “Plague.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 14 Sept. 2015, www.cdc.gov/plague/history/index.html.

- Schoenstadt, MD Arthur. “Yersinia Pestis.” EMedTV: Health Information Brought To Life,

EMedTV, plague.emedtv.com/yersinia-pestis/yersinia-pestis.html.

- “Home.” The Bubonic Plague, yersiniapestisisnotthebestest.weebly.com/index.html.

- History.com Staff. “Black Death.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010,

www.history.com/topics/black-death.

- DNews. “Bubonic Plague Originated in China.” Seeker, Seeker, 1 Nov. 2010,

www.seeker.com/bubonic-plague-originated-in-china-1765135886.html.

- Richard, Katherine Schulz. “The Horrifying Global Impact of the Black Death.” ThoughtCo,

www.thoughtco.com/global-impacts-of-the-black-death-1434480.

- “Gentamicin Uses, Side Effects & Warnings.” Drugs.com, Drugs.com, 15 Nov. 2017,

www.drugs.com/mtm/gentamicin.html.