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
2 Flu Pandemic Infects One-Third of the World But this disease was deadly It spread very quickly It raged across Europe Asia Africa North America and South America People ages 20 40 were most affected This wasn’t normal The flu is usually worst in elderly people and children Some people who became sick died within hours There was no cure for the disease Some experts say the flu began at an army base in Kansas Troops trained there carried the virus to Europe Others say it began in East Asia or Europe After 18 months and two big waves the flu ended Infected people either died or became immune About 500 million people were infected That was one-third of the world’s population at the time Between 20 and 40 million people died It was 1918 World War I was coming to a close But another type of war was about to begin The enemy would kill more people than the Great War itself It was a war against infectious disease In the fall of the year people started feeling sick The symptoms weren’t bad at first For some people it felt like coming down with a cold
20 Percent of people who died after being infected The flu spread very quickly The disease was worst for people 20 to 40 years of age Half a billion people around the world were infected A MISLEADING NICKNAME The flu pandemic of 1918 is often called the Spanish flu For this reason many people still believe the pandemic began in Spain It did not But because Spain was neutral in World War I it didn’t have news blackouts People read in the news that Spain was being hit hard by the flu So they thought the disease started there and spread to other countries Red Cross workers practice at an emergency ambulance station during the 1918 pandemic
