Question

What brought the plague to Catania?

Answer 1

Answer: People who came from Messina

Explanation: The arrival of the plague in western Europe happened in October 1347, when Genoese vessels en route from the Crimea region moored at Messina. The disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, was transmitted with fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) infesting black rats (but also certain other animals). Humans were usually infected when bitten by these fleas. Bubonic plague is fatal (though there is now a cure) and leads to an infection of the lymph nodes, which become swollen (bubo is Latin for "bump").

Here's what actually happens. The bacteria grow inside the flea, causing conditions which block the insect's stomach and induce extreme hunger. The flea starts to feed on a host, and in this way the disease spreads.

Answer 2

People who emigrated from Messina brought the plague to Catania.
Messina was one of the first locations on Sicily to be riddled with plague. Many people died, and many thought they weren't contaminated with the plague, so they decided to emigrate from this disease-riddled city. That's why they went to Catania, the city which the plague still hasn't reached. However, it turned out that some of these emigrants indeed had the plague, and so they contaminated Catania as well as Messina.