The “Black Death”

or Bubonic Plaque

During 1346-1350, more than 25 million people died of the “Black Death”. The

symptoms were visible, painful, large dark-colored swelling called buboes that were

located in the lymph glands. The cause of the disease was uncertain and resulted in

many bizarre speculations.

Your job is to take a similar situation and find out what is causing the deaths.

You have been assigned to travel to the Amazon rainforest with a world famous doctor, Dr. Med E. Cine. Your expedition has been well-stocked with food, safe drinking water, an unlimited laboratory

supplies for field research.

Upon arrival your group is attacked by hostile cannibals.

One of their poison darts kills Dr. Med E. Cine.

Your team is taken captive and when you arrive in their village, you notice that there are few

children under the age of 4 years old.

More bad new arrives: the tribal chief’s one year old son has contracted an

unknown disease.

Being an optimistic group, you seize the opportunity to flaunt

your scientific expertise.

That night, your team brainstorms observations.

You observe that:

1) they drink water directly from the Amazon River;

2) they eat raw pig meat;

3) they do not wash their hands before they eat;

4) the adults drink cha-cha (a beverage made from the root of the cha-cha plant)

Your goal for this activity is to choose a variable that may be causing the

deaths.

Good Luck!

Things to consider:

During the “Black Death” years, noticeable observations were: droughts, famines, climatic changes, the handling of

a rat newly dead from the plague was dangerous, however, after several hours it could be handled with

no danger.

Rats did not exhibit symptoms of plague until near death -- they then staggered as if in a drunken state and easily

captured.

What do you

think?

In 1894, a doctor in Hong Kong discovered that the cause of the “Black Death” or the plaque. He discovered the bacteria,

Yersinia pestis, appeared to be the cause.

It was later proven that fleas on rats were causing the deaths. The clue that lead to the the final discovery of flea

transmission were the bites on the legs of the victims. They appeared as small greyish spots and the presence of these

bites always brought about the bubonic swelling in the affected region of the body.