#bubonic plague

I wanna be on the party pile ™️

The Bubonic Plague is a collective term for diseases caused by Y. Pestis bacteria, most of which cause excruciating deaths if untreated with modern antibiotics. Nearly a third of the population of Europe was killed by this plague in the middle ages due to several errors on the part of the era's royalty, including the dismissal of the Holy Disease Monitors of St. Scalpelstitch, the Food Safety Experts of Bethlehem-Upon-Avon, and the withdrawal of Europe from the World Health Organization, which to be fair was only about 30 people from two countries at the time, but still it didn't help.

Thankfully, nothing of the sort could happen in our enlightened times in which such corruption and class disparity is long passed, and we are completely safe from such preventable diseases giving us diarrhea or salmonella by farms who funded the president's campaign.

However, new research suggests that the two may share more than you might think. Evidence has been put forward that a gene variant that helped people survive the Black Death also significantly lessens the impact of Covid-19. Don’t get too excited, though: the same variant is also responsible for a greater risk of Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions.

PARENTS AND OTHER ADULTS: Calm down. This information is NOT suitable for children or most teenagers. If you suspect Bubonic Plague or similar illness, contact a doctor. She or he may advise calling 911 (say "Ambulance"); going to the Emergency Room; or taking a "watch and wait" approach.

IMPORTANT: The 911 system is only for health emergencies, not chitchat, dating advice, medical questions, your friend's phone numbers, complaints, homework help or interviews. Okay? 😳

The following information is from the CDC.gov website, April 6, 2026.

Clinical Testing and Diagnosis for Plague

Diagnosis: Plague should be considered in any patient with clinical signs of plague and a recent history of residence in or travel to the western United States or other plague endemic areas.

Bubonic plague is the most common primary manifestation, with a bubo usually occurring in the groin, axilla, or cervical nodes. Buboes are often so painful that patients are generally guarded and have restricted movement in the affected region.

☎️🚫 Do not abuse the 911 system. The Plague and hantavirus are now present in the western United States. That doesn't mean you personally are infected, immune, or qualified to help.

This is factual, current medical information.

Sources include CDC.gov, a U.S. government website.

June 7, 2026

not exactly fun over here

but it makes me think i might be ready to reread Connie Willis' The Doomsday Book, which I haven't been able to reread since 2019 for some reason.

(it... it's a brutal read on the black death and a foil of a "modern" pandemic. The juxtaposition is stark, but the realities each of the characters face leave me speechless because of the pain endured, and the humanity that survives despite everything.)