What is the plague?
The Black Death is one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. In 1346 the disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis and transmitted by the fleas of the black rat, appeared in the area between the Caspian and Black Seas and in the Crimea. The ships carry the plague bacterium to the Mediterranean, from where it rapidly spreads throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Between 1347 and 1353, the disease killed about 75-200 million people. It was the beginning of an epidemic that would last 500 years, until the early 19th century.
