The black plague is one of the deadliest diseases humans have ever faced; it killed as many as 50 million people – including about a third of the population of Europe – in the 14th century alone, in an outbreak known as the Black Death. In modern days, though, you hardly ever hear about people getting the plague, which might make you think we've wiped it out. But the black plague is still around and still infecting people – and we aren't even trying to eradicate it.
LEARN MORE
**************
To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Bubonic plague: a disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis
- Reservoir: a living host in which a pathogen can live, grow, and multiply, and can serve as a source for disease
SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH
**************************
If you like what we do, you can help us!:
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Our merch: store.dftba.com/me
- Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share this video with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
CREDITS
*********
Kate Yoshida | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Lizah van der Aart | Storyboard Artist
Arcadi Garcia i Rius | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
https://neptunestudios.info
OUR STAFF
************
Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke
Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes
Henry Reich • Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida
OUR LINKS
************
Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth
TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth
Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth
Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth
Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth
Website | https://minuteearth.com
Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176
REFERENCES
**************
Dennis, D.T. & Mead, P.S. (2009). Plague. Tropical Infectious Diseases, 471. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-06668-9.50047-8
Jones, S. D., Atshabar, B., Schmid, B. V., Zuk, M., Amramina, A., & Stenseth, N. C. (2019). Living with plague: Lessons from the Soviet Union’s antiplague system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(19), 9155-9163. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817339116
Mahmoudi, A., Kryštufek, B., Sludsky, A., et al (2021). Plague reservoir species throughout the world. Integrative Zoology, 16(6), 820-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12511
Mitchell, E. P., & Pathirannehalage, S. C. N. (2025). Eradicating infectious disease: can we and should we: a critical examination. IJID One Health, 9, 100088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijidoh.2025.100088
Whitty, C. J. (2014). Milroy Lecture: eradication of disease: hype, hope and reality. Clinical medicine, 14(4), 419-421. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.14-4-419