Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that spread around Eurasia & North Africa from 1346-1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history. Estimated death counts ranging form 25,000,000-50,000,000. The Black Death was first introduced to Europe in 1347 when an army led by Mongol ruler Jani Beg attacked the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea.[1] From Crimea, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats that travelled on Genoese ships, spreading to the Mediterranean ports, whence it spread inland, affecting Sicily, North Africa, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, & Luxembourg by 1349.[1] In 2022, it was discovered that there was a sudden surge of deaths, in what is today Kyrgyzstan, from the Black Death in the late 1330s. When combined with genetic evidence, this implies that the initial spread may have been unrelated to the 14th century Mongol conquests previously thought as the cause.[2]