at it arrived via theports, carried on merchant and Naval ships. However, were the infected fleas carried by therats in the grain or bales of cloth and cotton, or on the backs of the crew, passengers orreturning soldiers? Furthermore, how did the disease spread from the ports to the town andcountry? Via wild rodents in the countryside, by the rats and fleas in transported freight, or bythe fleas on their human hosts?Although the evidence is mixed and debatable, it is suggested they all played a role.There is evidence to support that plague was caught from baggage and bales of clothes andcloth, as in Eyam in Derbyshire in 1665. There is also existing evidence that human transmissionis solely responsible. The spread of the plague across the country was far too rapid to beaccounted for by wild rodents in the countryside, and it is human transport which explains itsmovement along the major trade routes, usually by ship(British port to port), or on main roadsand navigable rivers. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that rodent transmission played apart in local village to village contamination.Affects of the bubonic plagueThe bubonic plague struck England in 1665. Since, the occurrence of the plague was sounexpected only 14th century preventive measures could be taken. The homeless people werethe first to feel the great effects of the plague. They did not have any money and so when theplague struck them they were basically in a hopeless situation. Even the top physicians wereaffected by the bubonic plague. Many doctors had to take care of the plague victims andbecause the plague was contagious, the doctors also caught it. The disease spread rapidlyamongst family.To try to prevent the outbreak of the plague the people began to burn fires in the streetsto keep the air clean. Fires were also struck in sickrooms to destroy the clothing of deceasedvictims. They were also killing cats and dogs, because they were believed to be the cause ofinf...
