A Scene of Suffering

Possibly the most famous painting depicting the years of the bubonic plague epidemic, this image (courtesy of the Museo del Prado, Madrid) shows the chaos and suffering brought about by the disease. 
Image source: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article/
Image courtesy of the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

La Peste (The Plague)

Warning: although this is animated, 

it may strike some as disturbing. 

Preview before showing to children.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHcRKfqnMs

© Olivier Dubocage, Michal Firkowski, Benoît Galland and Gildas Le Franc.

Doctor Dress Up

Every part of the plague doctor's uniform was important, both for protecting the doctor from the plague and for letting people know that they were the ones who would put their livers on the line for the people during this crisis.

• The leather hat was worn primarily to let people know that the person in question was a doctor but was also used to protect the head.
• Their full-length gown was made of heavy material and coated in wax to protect the body (under the gown, doctors would wear simple leather breeches).
• Leather gloves protected their hands from contact with diseased patients.
• Full-length leather boots protected their feet
• Plague doctors carried sticks or staffs to fend off people who came too close to them
• Then, of course, there was the mask with its glass eyes which protected the doctors face.

Source: http://www.historyonthenet.com/Stuarts/plague_doctor.htm
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Beak_Doctor.jpg

The "Beak Mask" of the Plague Doctor

For me, the first thing that always comes to mind when someone says plague doctor are their very unique beak-like masks. 

The eyes of the mask were made of glass rather than open holes and that ever-memorable beak was stuffed with herbs, spices, and perfumes to "purify" the air the doctor breathed while around their patients. 

(Please note that during that time it was widely believed that the plague was spread through the air whereas now we know that it is pneumonic plague, not bubonic plague, that can be passed through the air.)

Source: http://www.historyonthenet.com/Stuarts/plague_doctor.htm

Image 1: http://www.masksz.com/images/plague-doctor-mask/plague-doctor-mask.jpg

Image 2: http://walyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Plague-Doctor-Mask.jpg

The Spread of the Black Death

Europe 1346-53

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Blackdeath2.gif

Dogs and the Plague

Mentioned briefly in this video, nobles used to keep dogs in their beds to attract fleas, believing that the fleas would keep the plague at bay (of course, these days we know fleas are the primary carriers of plague).
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd5dR7YR2ig

Modern Treatment

Figure 3

Although plague is almost unheard of in the United States, it is still a very real disease with epidemics continuing to occur in Africa, Asia, and South America. Of America's 50 States, only 4 (California, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico) are still considered to be at risk of plague outbreaks.


Even with modern medicine, there is still a high rate of death in victims. Without treatment, about 50% of bubonic plague victims die as compared to near 100% of pneumonic plague victims. In the latter case, treatment reduces the rate to 50% which is still just the flip of a coin.


Today, treatment is generally handled with the antibiotics Streptomycin and Gentamicin. Alternate choices of medication are Doxycycline, Ciprofloxacin, or Chloramphenicol. (See figure 3 for doses.) In many cases, it is also necessarily to provide respiratory support to the victim.


Sources: A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia, 2011. © 2011 A.D.A.M., Inc.
Figure 3: "Plague Treatment Chart" http://www.coconino.az.gov/health.aspx?id=738

The Plague

There are 3 different types of plague, all of which are caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis and born in rodents such as rats, rabbits, prairie dogs, squirrels, and even domestic cats. The bacteria is spread primarily through the bites of fleas but can also be passed along by scratches or bites directly from the infected animal, in some rare cases handling an infected animal, or, in the case of Pneumonic plague, through the air we breathe.

The symptoms and speed of their appearance after infection differ for each type of plague:

Bubonic plague, in which the bacteria infects the lymph nodes, typically takes 2 - 5 days to show up after contact. Symptoms include:

Yersinia pestis 200x mag.

• Chills
• Fever
• Malaise (a general feeling of illness)
• Headache
• Muscle Pains
• Seizures
• Lymph glad swelling (usually in the groin but also in the armpits, neck or location of bite/scratch)

Pneumonic plague, mentioned above, effects the lungs and can be passed through the air. Symptoms can take as little as a day to appear but more typically take 2 - 3. Those symptoms include:

• Coughing/Severe coughing
• Difficulty breathing
• Fever
• Coughing up frothy blood mixed with mucus
• Chest pain especially when breathing deeply

Septicemic plague, arguably the most deadly of the plagues, can kill the infected before symptoms ever show up. If they do appear, they include:

• Abdominal pain
• Bleeding due to problems with clotting blood (in other words, persistant bleeding because a wound won't clot)
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Nausea and vomiting

Source: A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia, 2011. © 2011 A.D.A.M., Inc.

Figure 1: "Diagram of a flea, drawing using Hooke's microscope" (http://www.parrswood.manchester.sch.uk/faculties/science/hooke.html)
Figure 2: "Yersinia pestis 200x magnification with florescent label"
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Yersinia_pestis_fluorescent.jpeg)