[Benchim]

This is terrible news. This spreads very fast and can kill millions.

[r9etb]

This is terrible news. This spreads very fast and can kill millions.

There are a few cases every year. Here in Colorado it's spread among prairie dogs, and occasionally crosses over. It's not especially virulent -- certainly millions don't die from it.

This makes some believe that the Black Death may not actually have been Bubonic Plague as we currently know it.

[srmorton]

Bubonic plague is actually not the form of the disease that is the most contagious because it is usually confined to the lymph nodes which swell up and are called “bubos”(hence the name). It can be spread only by direct contact. If the organism gets into the lungs, the condition known as “pneumonic plague” develops. This form can be spread through the air very quickly and, prior to the availability of antibiotics, was so rapidly fatal that death could occur within 24 hours of the onset of this form. As mentioned previously, plague is now very easily treated with antibiotics.