Rat Boarding Ship, Spread of Plague, Illustration

A rat stowing away on a ship, carrying the plague further afield. Graphite drawing by Albert Lloyd Tarter, c. 1940s. The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia in the 14th century. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague, is thought to have been the cause. It was carried and spread by rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships

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1300s Animalia Boarding Bubonic Diseased Epidemic Fourteenth Infestation Pandemic Pathological Pathology Pest Plague Spread Spreading

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