WORLD HISTORY

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

DECLINE OF FEUDALISM

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
The bubonic plague was spread by
A
butterflies that propelled the bacteria into the air.
B
the unfortunate position of the planets.
C
a poisonous vapor, called a miasma, that carried the sickness from place to place.
D
fleas that fed on the blood of infected rats, then bit humans.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Plague bacteria are most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea. During plague epizootics, many rodents die, causing hungry fleas to seek other sources of blood. People and animals that visit places where rodents have recently died from plague are at risk of being infected from flea bites.

Detailed explanation-2: -Fleas become infected by feeding on rodents, such as chipmunks, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, mice, and other mammals that are infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Fleas transmit the plague bacteria to humans and other mammals during a subsequent feeding.

Detailed explanation-3: -Black rats were the most common at this time, and carried the bacteria called Yersinia pestis, which caused the plague. The rats then spread it to fleas that lived on their bodies. The fleas would drink the blood of infected rats, swallowing harmful bacteria. They then passed the infection onto humans by biting them.

Detailed explanation-4: -Both are caused by Yersinia pestis, but they are transmitted differently and their symptoms differ. Pneumonic plague can be transmitted from person to person; bubonic plague cannot.

Detailed explanation-5: -Specifically, historians have speculated that the fleas on rats are responsible for the estimated 25 million plague deaths between 1347 and 1351. However, a new study suggests that rats weren’t the main carriers of fleas and lice that spread the plague-it was humans.

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