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Plague doctor facts3/15/2024 It was believed this would protect them against plague, which was completely incorrect. Some people, particularly searchers, who were responsible for collecting the bodies of plague victims, decided to smoke tobacco. Some people took action on an individual basis to try and protect themselves from catching the disease: Public gatherings were banned, and people were not allowed to travel from one town to another unless they had a certificate proving they didn’t have plague. Searchers had the job of entering the home of suspected plague victims to search for bodies, and removing them to be placed in plague burial pits. Watchers were employed to make sure people didn’t leave. Plague victims were locked in their houses for 40 days and a red cross was painted on their door. It is estimated that 40,000 cats and 200,000 dogs were killed. Instructing fires to be lit in the street, so people could breathe in the smell of smoke, rather than the miasma believed to be causing the disease.Ĭats and dogs were killed, as it was believed that they might spread the plague. Some actions taken by the government included: Back to topĮvidence produced at the time of the Great Plague of 1665-66 gives us useful information about what people did to try and prevent the plague from spreading. The last outbreak here in the UK was in 1980, and in China as recently as 2020. See, the plague was actually caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, spread by infected fleas and transported worldwide by rats.Īnd the plague itself? Well, it never actually went away. Using DNA technology, they uncovered the plague’s origins – uncovering skeletons buried in modern-day Kyrgyzstan that had been infected by the bacteria that caused and spread the plague. The plague’s origins were only discovered by researchers in 2022. Through the late 19th century, medical discoveries led people to realise that bacteria, and not bad air, was the cause of the disease, and the theory of miasma was replaced with Germ Theory. Measures like forced isolation and wearing protective clothing did actually help to prevent the plague from spreading even if not for the reasons they thought at the time. In Italy, this was called ‘quaranta giorni’ or quarantine, meaning forty days. To prevent the plague spreading in Scotland though miasma, ‘foul clengers’ were hired to dispose of the dead and cleanse the air.īut you’ll be familiar with the most effective method – public gatherings were banned and plague victims were forced to isolate for forty days. Others blamed miasma – inhaling ‘poisonous’ or ‘bad’ air from rotting food and waste that lined the streets. Some saw it as God’s punishment on a sinful population and thought the best way to fight the disease was through prayer. In the 1600s, understanding of what caused and spread the plague was limited. The outbreak in 1645 proved the most devastating, leading to the demise of over half of the town’s population. The port of Leith was particularly vulnerable, as ships from plague infected areas overseas harboured rats that infected Leith’s unfortunate locals. Scotland was no stranger to the plague, suffering multiple waves and thousands of deaths from the start of the Black Death until the mid-17th century. Those infected initially developed a fever, aching and vomiting, before painful buboes would appear and, for around half, death would swiftly follow mere days later. Over the course of two and a half centuries, the plague is estimated to have wiped out half of Europe’s population and killed tens of millions of people across the globe. The plague first emerged in Central Asia in the 1300s and spread like wildfire, before reaching Europe in 1347. For he believes it is bad air, called ‘miasma’, that has caused the plague to ravage the port of Leith once again.īut, although he didn’t know it, George’s true protection was his leather cloak, which was stopping the fleas carrying the plague virus from biting and infecting him, as they had done with so many others. He dreads the thought of what is waiting for him inside more victims dying an incurable, horrible death – with little he can do to help.Īs he watches the dead bodies being removed from the neighbouring huts, he takes a deep breath, comforted by the sweet smell of herbs from inside his beaked mask. George Rae, a plague doctor, is standing Leith outside one of the isolation huts. It’s 1645, and the plague that is ravaging Europe has arrived in Scotland.
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