Quarantine During The Black Plague

The Black Death outbreak in 14th century Europe is an example of how quarantines were justly applied by the governments in order to handle an epidemic. Overall, the deadly disease wiped out 30-60% of Europe's population, instilling fear within the population as there seemed to be no stopping the disease (Stenseth, Plague: Past, Present, and Future, 0009). The Black Plague presented itself in forms of bubos, hard boils that formed under the armpit, the groin area, or the neck and persisted into headaches, vomiting of blood, stench, coma, and death (Horrox, The Arrival of the Plague, 24). In an attempt to stop the Plague from completely decimating the human population, they government implemented a 40-day quarantine on ships sourcing from countries

that had documented disease cases, travelers trying to enter the protected city by foot, and those who showed signs of infection. They were placed in Lazarettos, which were disease hospitals, where they spent the waiting period to see if they would get sick and die or if they would be cleared and released. This waiting period of around 40 days was enough time to allow the diseases to "burn out" and either kill all those infected; or to die off if an inanimate object had any of the disease on its surface. This essentially prevented any of the citizens in the port cities where the ships were trying to dock from becoming infected with a disease that had traveled over sea. This also allowed those infected to be easily treated and to try to have their symptoms managed. This essentially slowed the rate at which the disease spread and allowed European nations affected to recover.