Interesting and obscure facts about the bubonic plague

Although the Black Plague killed roughly 30–60% of Europe during the late 1340s, it wasn’t referred to as the “Black Plague” at the time but rather called the “Great Mortality."

The word that induced panic for so many of us during COVID-19 was coined during the black plague. The word “quarantine” was conceived in Venice for ships that arrived in infected ports. They were mandated to sit at anchor for 40 days, a practice that established the concept and the word “quarantine.”

Despite the high mortality rates, some people were genetically protected against the plague. Scientists still study the genetic resistance or immunity to the bacteria that some people possess.

The mortality rate for humans who caught the bubonic plague was between 30-75%. The pneumonic plague killed nearly 90-95% of its victims. The septicemic plague killed nearly 100% of those who were infected and still has no cure today.

The bubonic plague is still around today. Yes, you heard that right. While the infections have dropped considerably and the mortality rates are basically non-existent due to advances in modern medicine, it is still considered an infectious disease that can be transmitted in 2026.

Some religious types during this time believed that the plague was a form of divine punishment (quite the paradox). These individuals would hold flagellation rituals as they marched from town to town, dramatically whipping themselves. (presumably for the sins that caused susceptibility.) They hoped this self-inflicted punishment would earn forgiveness from God and end their suffering. As you could imagine, the irony here is that the public ceremonies often made the pandemic worse, as these were areas where infection spread rapidly.

During the Middle Ages, people desperately tried to increase resistance to the plague. (Although none of it was backed by science.) They believed that trying to be happy while avoiding bad thoughts, drinking good wine, avoiding fruit, not abusing the poor, and putting fragrances in beverages would all increase resistance to the plague.

A third plague pandemic began in China and India in the 1890s and eventually reached the United States (in the SF Bay Area region). It was during this pandemic that the real cause (Y. Pestis) would be discovered, along with a cure.