The Bubonic Plague

One deadly disease that demolished populations is the bubonic plague, also known as the plague or Black Death. It dates back to the early years of 540’s AD, but was known as Justinian plague until the 1300’s when it became known as the Black Death (Hogan, 2014). Yersinia pestis a zoonotic bacteria causes the bubonic plague and obtained its name from Alexandre Yersin, the discoverer (CDC, 2015). It first appeared during the early year of 541 in Egypt and spread to parts of Asia, till it disappeared in the year 750 (Hogan, 2014). It reemerged in the 1340’s in China and then made its way to Persia, Syria, India and Egypt. During 1346-1353 the bacteria coverage extended into Europe and created an epidemic which killed over twenty million people.

In the 1300’s many believed that the bubonic plague was a punishment from God and the sins they committed. They believed that God’s forgiveness was the only way to overcome this disease. They even went as far as traveling town to town beating themselves or others in front of the public as a way to show their apology. In addition, they killed many of the Jews because the town’s people believed that they were trouble makers and the community needed to eradicate them. Next to the churches deep pits were dug so when the people died their bodies would be thrown into it and then covered with dirt as the pit became full (History, 2010). According to the Google book Environment, Society and the Black Death: An interdisciplinary approach to the late-medieval crisis in Sweden by Lageras, Pope Clement VI had built a cemetery to bury the dead bodies, but he also dedicated the Rhone River in Europe as a safe place to throw the dead bodies. Spain as well threw dead bodies into the water (2016). During the 1400’s quarantining procedures began for about 40 days for those who showed signs or symptoms of this disease. People who wanted to travel were refused entry into the country if they came from an area that was known to have an epidemic and the traveler had to provide proof that they travelled through areas that were not infected with the disease (Duncan, 2004). Once a person was showing symptoms of the disease they would go to an isolation

However, in the devastating results that the bubonic plague brought I feel Hippocrates would have done the same thing in terms of separating the healthy and the sick. The population was being dwindling and the only thing that made sense back then was to stay clear of the sick and quarantine those who had symptoms. Hippocrates may have tried to help in the beginning to find the causes through his studies and experiments, but once the full effect of the disease was brought to light I feel he would have also separated the people who were sick. According to Osborn, Hippocrates was about building up the body so it can become resistant to disease and using dietary and holistic approaches to treat not just the disease, but the patient as well