SCREEN PROFITS REPORT

The Plague

2026

The Black Death was a plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history, leading to the death of up to 50 million people, or 50% of Europe's 14th-century population. The plague was not caused by a single disease, but is instead named after its most visually striking but not necessary lethal pathogen, the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This disease is primarily spread by flea bites, though it may also possibly be spread by exposure to coughed up contaminated fluids such as blood and sputum. The deadlier aspect of the plague was a disease referred to as pneumonic plague or pea pox, which was very possibly a variant of smallpox. The popular notion that the disease was primarily spread by rats and their fleas has been challenged by scientists and archaeologists for over a decade, but new findings have been slow to change popular perceptions of the Black Death.