Although politically incorrect, it is the hottest topic of conversation on all the late night shows, in the pubs, and in the cafes. The scandal is that all the deaths seem caused by infidelity. Saucy stories spread like sweat on a July afternoon about who was having sex with whom, and when the other partners would die. It isn't just death, though some might prefer it to the other alternatives. Disfigurement is a dead giveaway, a stigma sometimes worse that death.
Chronic illness is another sign of the plague.
It is ugly. No, it isn't America in 2002. It is Europe in 1494. The plague is syphilis. Some people conclude that all plagues are from God.