Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence

Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence

1 volume
Timetable of Plague and Pestilence which indicates the date, disease and locality affected
Bibliography, Geographical Appendix, Index

Diseases such as the bubonic plague, influenza, polio, smallpox and scarlet fever have frequently affected large portions of a population due to the ease of transmission and severity. When one disease affects a large geographic location at the same time, it is known as a plague. Plagues (now referred to as epidemics or pandemics) have been around since ancient times, the earliest example being the unknown plague of swellings that afflicted the Philistines in ancient Palestine during the 11 century B.C. after they took the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites. And outbreaks of plagues are still around today; among the most recent are HIV-AIDS, SARS and the Ebola virus. Although the causes, symptoms and course of each disease are different, the effects are often the same; large scale suffering and death of the infected populations. Sometimes there are political consequences as well such as the defeat of armies and empires. For instance, in 1801 the French surrendered control of Egypt to the British after a prolonged outbreak of the bubonic plague.

This book gives an introduction to the major outbreaks of disease throughout history. It details the locations, causes of infection, means of transmission, effects and outcomes of the various plagues that have affected mankind. Most entries have references for further information on a given outbreak.

Of special note are the Timetable of Plague and Pestilence which indicates the date, disease and locality affected by an epidemic and a Geographical appendix which allows one to look up the variety of diseases that affected people in different locations around the world. This appendix also has a listing of the plagues that affected people in ancient times.

Not all of the outbreaks were physical in nature; there is a description of the various “dancing manias” that affected Europe between the 12th and 17th centuries which were are usually attributed to psychological causes, although ergot of rye is suggested as a possible physical reason for the outbreaks. This book demonstrates that no location or population is immune from the wide-scale effects of some diseases.

However, the entries in the book are all of geographic or chronologic outbreaks of disease. The diseases themselves are not described in separate entries but many of the symptoms are found in the descriptions of the events.