ZKEA

Biological Terrorism : Emerging Diseases : Biological Warfare

Bubonic Plague

Thus plague is normally a problem when humans live in close proximity to rodents. Historically, this has meant rats. Slum populations, with poor hygiene, were thus at greatest risk.

The typical sign of the most common bubonic form of human plague is a swollen and very tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. The swollen gland is called a bubo. This is usually accompanied by fevers, chills and extreme exhaustion. Natural plague has not evolved significant resistance to antibiotics, and thus remains treatable in most cases.

The ancestral home of the plague is the grasslands of central Asia. In these original ecologies, human inhabitants had clearly always been aware of the plague, since in ancient times they had evolved reasonably effective traditions to avoid acquiring the disease. In particular, they had taboos against eating rats and related rodents. They also had taboos against handling any dead animal that had not been freshly killed. These strictly-enforced traditions helped the indigenous societies co-exist healthily with the plague bacteria. Over the centuries, due to human migration and ecological dislocations, the plague gradually spread out over the planet. However, the traditional ecological knowledge of the plague did not similarly spread. Thus when plague reached new populations, the afflicted societies rarely had any effective response or defense.

The results were demographic disasters that often reached apocalyptic proportions. Early Chinese epidemics destroyed up to 98% of the population in afflicted areas. Indeed, ancient Chinese chronicles speak of provinces wiped clean of all inhabitants. The impact elsewhere was often of the same magnitude. In Europe, the disease was absolutely devastating, literally changing the course of history. In a series of epidemics spanning many decades, the plague annihilated entire populations. Over time the aggregate loss of life was approximately 1/3 of the entire European population. Not for nothing was it called the Black Death. This mass death tore apart the the fabric of society, resulting in sweeping social and economic changes. These changes in turn had massive consequences, including the Protestant Reformation and the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, it might be claimed without too much exaggeration that modern industrial society has its roots in the Black Death.

In these epidemic situations plague often spreads in its pneumonic form, directly from person to person. This form is quite distinct from the usual bubonic form of the disease, and generally involves the lungs to a much greater degree. It is also much more lethal and difficult to treat.

Since plague is zoonotic, eliminating it from the ecosystem is not possible. The bacteria could always lie latent in its animal reservoir even if somehow eliminated from the human population, thus preserving the possibility of future human infections. This contrasts with other strictly-human diseases, such as smallpox. These non-zoonotic diseases can theoretically be driven extinct by vaccines, since the causative pathogen has no refuge outside of human beings.

Plague has never made a particularly effective weapon. It is relatively difficult to disperse in a fashion that can affect a large group of people. Even so, the Japanese and Soviets both worked on plague weapons. Also the plague genotype is of great interest to biological weapons designers for use in chimeric organisms.

Link: CDC Plague Overview
Link: The Black Death, 1348 Europe
Link: Plague Symptoms and Treatment
Link: Bubonic Plague History, Possibilities as a Terrorist Weapon