Black Death

The Black Death epidemic swept through Europe from 1348

through 1351, killing an estimated 25–60% of Europeans.
Some estimates are as high as 2/3 of the population. The
death toll is hard top work out it is estimated that between
75 and 200 million people died. There are several several
possible causes have been advanced for the Black Death;
the most prevalent is the Bubonic plague theory. Plague and
the ecology of Yersinia pestis in soil and in rodent and
(possibly and importantly) human ectoparasites are
reviewed and summarized by Michel Drancourt in modelling
sporadic, limited and large plague outbreaks. Efficient
transmission of Y. pestis is generally thought to occur only
through the bites of fleas whose mid guts become
obstructed by replicating.