Bubonic plague

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/bubonic-plague

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Yersinia pestis
2. What is the primary transmission vector?Fleas, particularly Xenopsylla cheopis, feeding on infected rodents
3. What is the bubonic plague and what causes it?The bubonic plague is a serious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, a tiny Gram-negative rod that can hide inside immune cells and spread through the body.
4. How does the plague spread from animals to people?Fleas bite infected rodents, swallow the bacteria, and then regurgitate it into the bite wound of a new host, which can be another rodent or a human.

Zoonotic Disease: An infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
Virulence Factors: Microbial components or strategies that enable a pathogen to cause disease.
Epidemiology: The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations.
Reservoir Host: The species of animal that harbors a pathogen and serves as its primary source of infection.