WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Ask: How did shipping routes aid in transmitting the plague? [Answer: Infected rats and fleas made way onto ships in contaminated food and supplies. The plague was also transmitted through rat, work animal, and human waste. Ships could efficiently get to other continents as they sailed the seas.]

Detailed explanation-2: -The medieval Silk Road brought a wealth of goods, spices, and new ideas from China and Central Asia to Europe. In 1346, the trade also likely carried the deadly bubonic plague that killed as many as half of all Europeans within 7 years, in what is known as the Black Death.

Detailed explanation-3: -Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague and is caused by the bite of an infected flea. Plague bacillus, Y. pestis, enters at the bite and travels through the lymphatic system to the nearest lymph node where it replicates itself.

Detailed explanation-4: -Historians studying the spread of the plague discovered that the disease was spread by fleas that are commonly found on rodents such as rats and mice. As such, it is now understood that the plague spread via trade routes as the rodents travelled in caravans and on merchant ships.

Detailed explanation-5: -From its origin at the eastern end of the Silk Road, the Black Death rode trade routes west stopping at Central Asian caravansaries and Middle Eastern trade centers and subsequently infected people all across Asia.