nts forthe plague were the wearing of excrement and bathing in humanurine. Other precautions were the use of leeches and the placingof dead animals in infested homes (Zeigler 35).Today he Bubonic Plague has a vaccine that lasts for about sixmonths. It is not available in the United States yet. A newvaccine is being worked on and could be licensed later thisyear. Travelers to plague infested areas should take a specialantibiotic. The most effective way to prevent plague is bettersanitation. As plagues occurred regularly after the 1350's,preventative measures began to grow. Plague patients wereplaced in pesthouses, isolated from the general population. Ships coming in from areas where plague had broken out wereforced to stay out of the port for forty days. This stopped plagueinfested individuals from bringing the plague ashore, and if theplague was present on the ship, it would die out during theforty day quarantine. Doctors wore protective gear to preventthemselves from being infected (Nardor 53).Among the most vivid accounts of the Black Plague'sorigins and symptoms are those of its earliest survivors. Theearly symptoms of the plague include: shivering, headache,vomiting, intolerance to light, pain in the back and limbs, anda white coating on the tongue. The more vivid symptom in menand women was the appearance of certain swellings in the groinand armpit area. These swellings, called buboes, were verypainful swollen lymph nodes. From the two areas mentioned, thedeadly swellings would begin to spread and within a short periodof time they would appear at random all over the body. Theseswellings, to anyone unfortunate enough to contract them, weredefinite signs that they would soon die (Bunson 93).Another common symptom of the Black Plague is theappearance of black blood under the skin after death. Severehemorrhage takes place under the skin after death causing thebody to look black. This is where the plague received one o...
