Black Death Was Just The Beginning

The plague epidemic that struck Europe in 1347 was not the first major outbreak of the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The Plague of Justinian, which struck in the sixth and seventh century, is said to be the first large-scale onslaught. It was called after the First Plague Pandemic. The Justinian Plague afflicted the Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian Empire, and Mediterranean port cities. According to historical accounts, the plague wiped off 40% of the population of Constantinople, the Byzantine capital. According to modern estimates, it may have killed nearly half of Europe's population before finally vanishing in 700 CE.

The Black Death is now regarded as the first and most lethal outbreak of the Second Plague Pandemic, which would continue to afflict Europe intermittently until the 17th century, and more sparingly in some areas until the 19th century. Few of the Second Plague Pandemic's ensuing outbreaks were as deadly. Despite this, each recurrence resulted in the deaths of 10-20% of the population. In Yunnan, China, a new strain of the bacteria caused the Third Plague Pandemic, which began in 1855. This bubonic plague outbreak spread to all inhabited continents, albeit it was mostly restricted to Asia. More than 12 million people would die in India and China, with about 10 million in India alone. Between 1860 and 1960, the Third Pandemic raged.