The Great Plague, 1665-1666 (Tayla Skidgel)
The most devastating outbreak of bubonic plague to ravage London rose in April 1665 and fell by February 1666. Black rats that had stowed away on cargo ships arriving from foreign countries carried the fleas that hosted the deadly Yersinia pestis bacteria. Once on land, the rats gravitated to poor city regions with filthy, overcrowded streets. After the rats succumbed to the disease, the infested fleas found new human hosts. Generally, the poor were left to fend for themselves while the more affluent citizens escaped to the country. Victims of the plague endured treacherous pain and odds. The disease caused lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, and groin to swell and turn black; symptoms included vomiting, headache, and fever. Within two weeks of infection, sufferers had a thirty-percent chance of dying. At the height of the plague in September, over seven thousand Londoners died in one week alone. Modern estimates suggest that the disease took over 100,000 lives inside and outside of the city’s walls. In concurrence with the devastating loss of life, London experienced profound economic and social repercussions. All intercountry trade was halted and countless jobs were lost. King Charles II and Parliament were forced to flee to Oxford while the Lord Mayor of London and his alderman stayed in the city to uphold the King’s official edicts to contain the disease. The homes of the infected were locked, marked, and guarded by watchmen. Searchers scoured the city for the dead, collected the bodies in wagonloads, and buried them in communal pits each night. Public funeral services were strictly prohibited. Countless remedies were pursued to counteract the plague: thousands of cats and dogs were killed as suspected hosts; fires were lit to cleanse the air; and sores were bled to rid the body of sickness. Contemporary studies suggest that a combination of factors led to the eventual end of the outbreak. Both rats and humans may have developed a stronger immunity to the disease as the cold winter months and improved quarantine measures discouraged fleas and their rodent hosts. While the Great Fire of 1666 did not eradicate the plague, the destruction brought on by the fire did—ironically—provide Londoners with a chance to thwart future epidemics. Streets were rebuilt with wider passages to avoid overcrowding and sewage systems were modified to promote cleanliness.
Main source: http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/plague.html
Supplemental source: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/great-plague/
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