Plague: Diseases Transmitted by Fleas

Lecture 11 (Pt. 2)

What are diseases that are transmitted by fleas?

1. Cat scratch disease

2. Plague

3. Murine typhus

Introduction to Plague

• The most important disease transmitted by fleas

• Disease that is still present in many parts of the world

• There is endemic plague in the U.S. (not many, but there are reports every year)

What were the three plague outbreaks?

1. Justinian Plague

2. Great Plague

3. Modern Plague

The Justinian Plague

• first recorded pandemic

• named after 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian I

• Began in 541 AD and was followed by frequent outbreaks over the next 200 years

• Killed over 25 million people

• Affected much of the Mediterranean basin–virtually all of the known world at that time