Lessons from Epidemics, Pandemics, and Surgery

Abstract

Plague is a clinical condition caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. The bacterium can be transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected flea, contact with contaminated fluid or tissue, or through infectious droplets.² World Health Organization Plague. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague Date: 2017 Date accessed: September 4, 2020 Google Scholar Clinically, human disease is divided into bubonic, septicemic, or pneumonic plague, depending on the route of transmission and clinical manifestations.² World Health Organization Plague. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague Date: 2017 Date accessed: September 4, 2020 Google Scholar Plague can be highly lethal, with pneumonic plague having fatality rates of nearly 100% without treatment.² World Health Organization Plague. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague Date: 2017 Date accessed: September 4, 2020 Google Scholar The Black Death was a combination of bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague outbreaks that killed 350 to 475 million—30% to 60% of Eurasia and North Africa’s population—during the 1300s.³ Gottfried R.S. Black Death. The Free Press, New York 1983 Google Scholar