The Black Death (also the Great Plague) was a devastating pandemic that affected Europe from 1347 to 1351. It resulted in the deaths to between 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia. The disease was caused by the bacterium <em>Yersinia pestis</em>, which was carried by Oriental rat fleas. The bubonic plague is thought to have originated in Central Asia. The plague recurred as outbreaks in Europe until the 19th century.
