Yersinia pestis history

The first pandemic caused by this pathogen was the Justinian Plague in the Mediterranean Basin from 541 to 750/767 CE. In addition to the Mediterranean Basin, this plague also invaded parts of northern Europe in places like Germany and England, killing millions of people. The second pandemic, including the Black Plague (1346-1353), lasted from 1346 to the 18th century in Europe, killing an estimated one-third of the European population. The third pandemic is thought to have begun in 1772 in Yunnan, a Chinese province, and spread globally towards the beginning of the 20th century when steamships and railroads became a mode of transportation (Barbieri et al., 2020). The transmission of this zoonotic pathogen to humans can happen through various methods, whether through contact with animal carcasses, animal bites, or consumption of a contaminated animal. The main source however, is the fleas that live on the animals (Barbieri et al., 2020). That said, treatment development began in 1895, with Alexandre Yersin making the first antiserum for the plague in collaboration with others from the Pasteur Institute. This treatment reduced the mortality rate from 82% to 32% at the start but showed mixed results after inconsistent methods in its application began to rise. Later on, in the 1940s, antiserum and sulfapyridine solutions, as well as antibiotics, started producing more effective results in curing the plague, especially when taken during the early stages of the disease. In terms of prevention and control of the plague, it's recommended to avoid areas of known outbreaks and take safety precautions to avoid flea bites, including reporting infected animals and monitoring them. Other preventions like vaccines have also been developed but it is only short-term protection and does not provide promising results for all variations of the plague (Barbieri et al., 2020).