The Biblical book of Exodus chapter eleven records the tenth and final plague leveraged against the land of Egypt by a God bent on delivering His people. The Plague of Death killed the firstborn of all who neglected to mark the surroundings of their doorways with the blood of a freshly killed sacrificial lamb. The famously dreadful plagues of the Torah only further to connect our fears of mass pestilence and disease. The fear is timeless. It is a faceless terror with no organization to wreak vengeance upon; no person to blame. Pandemics have happened across time. In fact, I myself had a great-grandmother die of the Spanish Influenza in 1918, and most of us recall the Bird Flu scares of more recent years. Yet however heinous these other epidemics, the word ‘plague’ conjures up grotesque and putrid images that must certainly dull in comparison to the real experiences of true eyewitnesses.
The most historically famous instance is the massive spread of the bacteria Yersinia pestis in the 1340s and 50s. One third or more of Europe’s population died (roughly 25% of the world’s total population). The Black Plague, or Black Death, had traveled out of Asia on the backs of rats who took to the new era of open trade and commerce with gusto. The Xenopsylla cheopis [Oriental Rat Flea] was the prime carrier of the plague and simply transferred the infection to humans after biting the infected rats. In many cases, the plague became bubonic, one of several manifestations of the bacteria in question. Lymph nodes under the arms and groin swelled along with a litany of other appalling symptoms that subjected victims to tremendous torment before an ever imminent death. All of this terrible suffering happened in the cradle of our modern, Western civilization. Thus, all of the fear experienced by the survivors of the 14th century plague was passed on as readily as the disease itself. As cultural descendants of these individuals, we now cringe at the word ‘plague’ because it personifies the powerlessness and utter despair we feel when faced with an uncontrollable and unpredictable enemy. But will we ever face such a threat again?
Our modern world is much better equipped to identify and contain naturally occurring diseases. However, in the future there may very well be faces to blame, organizations to seek out, and terrorists to arrest. Could someone weaponize the worst nightmare of the Medieval world and attempt to unleash it on the 21st century? It has happened before, and could easily happen again. Unit 731, biological warfare, and a global society will all be discussed in an upcoming post in an effort to learn from our past experiences with the Plague.
*For an interesting story of what could happen based on what has happened, see Tim Downs’ novel Plague Maker.
