Was the Black Death really such a disaster? The brutality of the Black Death was matched only by the speed of its rampage across medieval Europe. One third of the English population was wiped out. The feudal system – brought into existence nearly 300 years earlier under William I – was damaged ... Learn about the historical disease that caused widespread devastation in the past, transmitted by fleas or inhalation of respiratory droplets. Find out how to recognize the symptoms, such as fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, and how to prevent and treat the infection with antibiotics. The original carrier for the plague-infected fleas thought to be responsible for the Black Death was the black rat. The bacterium responsible for the Black Death , Yersinia pestis, was commonly endemic in only a few rodent species and is usually transmitted zoonotically by the rat flea. Black Death, pandemic that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351 , taking a proportionately greater toll of life than any other known epidemic or war up to that time. The Black Death is widely thought to have been the result of plague, caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
