Question

Reflection: The Black Death Today?

Answer 1

No, there is not a chance the black plague could happen in a similar way today. We have such great medicines and antibiotics today that can fight the disease. A disease that is very similar to the black plague is Ebola. Ebola is spread by rats with fleas as well as the Black Plague was. Ebola is actually what scientists believe to be the Black death all those years ago.

Answer 2

A health crisis similar to the Black Death could happen, as seen with ebola and the Zika virus. The Black Plague was spread through so thoroughly through highly populated trade routes after the rats brought plague infected fleas on ships. These days, we have even more means of efficient travel including flights across the world, which allows an easy spread of disease across large areas. There are two likely ways such a widespread disease could occur: through unvaccinated kids, or spreading from areas with little sanitation. The ¨anti-vax¨ movement could easily create a problem in that unvaccinated children will catch preventable diseases, such as polio or the measles, and spread them to younger kids unable to get vaccinations, or to children who also don´t take their vaccines. Also, areas with little sanitation are breeding grounds for diseases, and if anyone leaves that area, say through a flight, they can spread it to a different continent and start an epidemic.