Europe’s Plagues Came From China, Study Finds

This article is talking about plagues. The Black Death is one that I have learned about before in Big History and it contains a bacterium that is called Yersinia pestis. This disease, the Black Death, was something that wiped out 30 percent or more of Europe's population. The Great Plague was another that was mentioned and that happened in London. This disease was spread from rats and fleas. The article goes on to talk about Yersinia pestis and how it sure is the bacterium that caused all the deaths of the Black Death and how it is found in China still to this day.

Just thinking about these large plagues makes me wonder what would happen if today there was a new epidemic. I remember when swine flu was brought to attention and the commotion it caused. It is kind of a scary thought to think of how bacteria can kill off so many people even though they are so small.

WADE, NICHOLAS. "Europe's Plagues Came From China, Study Finds - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. .