What Was the Bubonic Plague?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
2. Yersinia Pestis
The bubonic plague was caused by an infection by the yersinia pestis bacterium, which lives in small rodents such as rats and mice. The disease can cause three different types of plague, all three of which can infect humans. In addition to the black death, which devastated much of the world, there have also been other outbreaks.
Other outbreaks of the disease include the modern plague, which occurred late in the 19th century. Although not as devastating as the black death the modern plague is still estimated to have taken 10 million lives. Studies have shown that the plague may also have devastated human populations in the Neolithic period.
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