| We are sorry to report but the United States Department of Heath has issued a quarantine on the city of Westminster and the city of Broomfield. As of right now there have only been 15 cases of the plague that are known. The quarantine will last untill we have found all of the cases of this plague. We are not sure as of now as to how long this will take but we are working as fast as we can. |
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| bonubonic plague is usually fatal, though not inevitably so. Today, we have drugs that can cure it, if administered in time. But if the victim is already at risk, becouse of malnutrition or other illness, it is more deadly. | There are two varieties of plague: septicaemic plague, which attacks the blood, and pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs. The secound is especially dangerous as it can be transmitted through the air. Both these two are nearly 100% fatal. |
| The presenting symptoms of bubonic plague are shivering, vomiting, headaches, giddiness, an intolerance to light, pain in the back and limbs, and a white coating on tongue. A fever of between 103 and 106 occurs immediately. Within 24 hours coughing starts, then becomes spitting up blood. The plague is an acute disease, meaning it normally doesn't last a long time. Also, if you recover from having it you will be immune for the rest of your life. | Bubonic plague is caused by the infectious agent Yersinia Pestis, also known as Pasteurella Pestis. Yersinia Pestis is a bacteria, meaning the cells lack the internal organization of eukaryotic cells. Some bacteria cells contain membranes, but they do not subdivide the inside of the cell. Bacteria cells also lack a nucleus and endoplasmis reticulum. Instead of a nucleus, a bacteria cell has a nucleiod that contains genetic material. There are two types of bacteria cells, gram-negative and gram-positive. Yersinia Pestis is gram-negative. This makes antibiotics less effective on the plague because gram-negative bacteria have a lipopolysaccharide layer over their walls that adds extra protection. |
| Many people think that the Plague is spread by rats. This is partly true. Rats are not the direct infectors of the Plague, they are merely hosts for the fleas carrying the bacteria. The Plague can be spread through any rodent or animal who could get fleas. So the rat or cat or prairie dog that has fleas could be considered a vector for the disease. Rodents can carry the plague, but it does not effect them, they can then pass it on to humans who will most likely die. | Once the bacteria is regurgitated into the new host, it begins to multiply in the blood stream and lymphatic system. The Bacterium travels to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, and brain, basically attacking the whole body at once. The system that the plague has the largest effect on is the lymphatic system, because that is where the most bacteria multiplies. As the lymph nodes swell with puss, the disease circulates through the blood stream and creates the possibility of hemorrhaging and lots of other nasty things. |
| The Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320s. No one really knows why. The plague bacillus was alive and active long before that; indeed Europe itself had suffered an epidemic in the 6th century. But the disease had lain relatively dormant in the succeeding centuries. We know that the climate of Earth began to cool in the 14th century, and perhaps this so-called little Ice Age had something to do with it. | Whatever the reason, we know that the outbreak began there and spread outward. While it did go west, it spread in every direction, and the Asian nations suffered as cruelly as anywhere. In China, for example, the population dropped from around 125 million to 90 million over the course of the 14th century. |
