Journal of Infectious Diseases & Preventive Medicine
Open Access

Abstract

Lessons Learned from Historic Plague Epidemics: The Relevance of an Ancient Disease in Modern Times

Nicholas A Boire, Victoria Avery A Riedel, Nicole M Parrish and Stefan Riedel

Plague has been without doubt one of the most important and devastating epidemic diseases of mankind. During the past decade, this disease has received much attention because of its potential use as an agent of biowarfare and bioterrorism. However, while it is easy to forget its importance in the 21st century and view the disease only as a historic curiosity, relegating it to the sidelines of infectious diseases, plague is clearly an important and re-emerging infectious disease. In today’s world, it is easy to focus on its potential use as a bioweapon, however, one must also consider that there is still much to learn about the pathogenicity and enzoonotic transmission cycles connected to the natural occurrence of this disease. Plague is still an important, naturally occurring disease as it was 1,000 years ago. This review highlights some of the important aspects of the disease throughout history with a discussion of the current situation of naturally occurring plague in the 21st century.