Plague

[[File:Acral gangrene of digits -bubonic plague.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Acral gangrene caused by plague]]
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'''Plague''' (or '''bubonic plague''') is a disease caused by the [[bacterium]] ''Yersinia pestis'' which is thought to be the cause of three world pandemics in history
*The Plague of Justinian in the 6<sup>th</sup> century CE, which broke apart the [[Roman Empire]] for good — though a recent cross-disciplinary analysis in 2019 disputed that this was particularly deadly or that it had much disruption<ref>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/an-ancient-outbreak-of-bubonic-plague-may-have-been-exaggerated An ancient outbreak of bubonic plague may have been exaggerated: Archaeological evidence suggests a sixth century epidemic didn’t radically change European history] by Bruce Bower (December 2, 2019 at 3:00 pm) ''Science News''.</ref><ref>[https://www.pnas.org/content/116/51/25546 The Justinianic Plague: An inconsequential pandemic?] by Lee Mordechai et al. (2019) ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' 116 (51) 25546-25554. doi:10.1073/pnas.1903797116.</ref>
*The Black Death in the 14<sup>th</sup> century, which wiped out between a quarter and a half of Europe's population and wreaked havoc all over [[Asia]] as well
*The Third Pandemic in the late 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries, during which the responsible bacterium was isolated

It is a close relative of ''Y. enterocolitica'', which causes the much less serious disease {{wpl|yersiniosis}} and usually comes from not washing one's hands after contacting uncleaned or improperly cleaned chitterlings.

The term "plague" was also used historically to refer to any epidemic of disease. These are caused by germs; a fact that has been known since the late 19<sup>th</sup> century and the validation of the [[germ theory of disease]], which, like [[evolution]], is not a hypothesis but rather demonstrated [[fact]] on the order of the theory that [[rain]] is caused by clouds. As for why you probably no longer need to worry about the plague, you can thank antibiotics derived from [[fungi]], such as penicillin. However, [[Antibiotic-resistant bacteria|perhaps it may become a problem again in the future]]. You never know.

==Religion and plagues==
[[File:Plaguet03.jpg|thumb|left|165px|The {{wpl|Plague of Justinian}} (541–549 CE), as depicted by Josse Lieferinxe (c. 1498)]]
Some [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalists]] persist in suggesting that when others experience outbreaks of disease, that this is a punishment from [[God]], much like the plagues visited upon [[Egypt]]; [[Jerry Falwell]] said this of the [[AIDS]] epidemic among [[gays]],<ref>http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x1987843539</ref> roughly following [[Fred Phelps]]'s line.

They do this despite the fact that their congregations are filled primarily with elderly people who suffer an epidemic of diseases of excess such as artheriosclerosis. [[Hypocrisy]] is, [[ironically]], one of the vices most detested by [[Jesus]] according to Biblical accounts ({{Bible|Matthew|23|1}} is one famous example). Even more ironically, Jesus also spoke against people who ascribed natural disasters to God punishing their victims ({{Bible|Luke|13|1|3}}).

Interestingly the [[Bible]] actually gives a relatively accurate account (for the Bible) of the bubonic plague itself in {{Bible|1 Samuel|5|6}}-14 where it mentions a plague of [[tumor]]s and [[rat]]s which ravage the Philistines after they gained possession of the [[Ark]].

==Artificial plagues==
Biological warfare is an unfortunate fact of modern life. According to the [[Westboro Baptist Church]], deaths experienced by US combat soldiers at the hands of the [[Taliban]] are God's punishment to America for abandoning "Godly ways". Thus, a hypothetical Taliban biological terrorist attack would be, according to such fundamentalists, a plague from God, and [[Al-Qaeda]] would be the vicars of the Lord.

During [[World War II]], [[Unit 731]] of the [[Japanese]] army conducted biological warfare using plague and other vectors.<ref>''Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II'' by Peter Williams & David Wallace (1989). Free Press. ISBN 0029353017.</ref>

==References==
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{{stub|Biology}}

[[Category:Disease]]

Categories: Disease