Plague is a serious, infectious disease usually transmitted by the bites of rodent fleas. It was the scourge of our early history. There are three major forms of the disease: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Plague has been responsible for three great world pandemics, which caused millions of deaths and significantly altered the course of history. A pandemic is a disease that occurs throughout the entire population of a country, a people, or the world. Although the cause of the plague was not identified until the third pandemic in 1894, scientists are virtually certain that the first two pandemics were plague because a number of the survivors wrote about their experiences and described the symptoms.

The first great pandemic appeared in 542 A.D. and lasted for 60 years. It killed millions of citizens, particularly along the Mediterranean Sea. This sea was the busiest, coastal trade route at that time and connected...