HEALTH DISASTERS THE 12 WORST OF ALL TIME by Susan E Hamen 12 Story Library
1 The Black Death Arrives in Europe There were so many victims they had to be buried in mass graves In October 1347 Italian trade ships arrived in Sicily They were returning from the Middle East Officials soon made a shocking discovery Most men on the ships were dead Surviving sailors were very sick They showed fever chills and vomiting Their skin was covered in black boils A serious illness was to blame Officials ordered the ships to leave They did not want the disease to spread But it was too late The Black Death had arrived in Europe The name came from the black
boils appearing on the skin Others called the illness the Great Plague Whatever name people used the bubonic plague was deadly The disease was caused by bacteria in rats and fleas Sailors who were bitten became ill The disease then spread between people The Black Death soon advanced to France and North Africa People in London and Northern Europe began dying People infected by bubonic plague often died within a day of becoming sick No medicine could cure them Doctors feared treating the sick They did not want to be infected Families were often forced to leave sick loved ones to die The Black Death would kill 25 million Europeans by 1351 In just four years the plague reduced the population of the continent by more than half 200 Years before Europe’s population reached pre-plague numbers Bubonic plague arrived in Sicily on trade ships in 1347 The Black Death quickly spread across Europe An estimated 25 million people died during the pandemic
