How Black Death was Stopped
Clearly, we don't have an issue with bubonic plague or the like today. For this reason, we must ask ourselves, "How did Black Death stop?" The answer has to do with several factors.
Other factors also contributed, but were not as prominent.
- When cemeteries filled up, bodies began to be cremated instead of buried. This destroyed fleas and viruses on the clothes and the bodies themselves.
- Sanitation habits went from nonexistent to somewhat OK. They were still not anywhere near our practices today, but many Europeans stopped throwing their feces into the streets, which was actually a good step.
- In years past, some people thought that cats were bad luck and caused disease, when actually the opposite was true: they killed the rats that housed the fleas! Over time, the practice of killing stray cats died off, and they started to control the rat population once again.
- As people finally realized that Black Death was partly spread by humans, the nomadic lifestyle many of them had slowly waned off.
Other factors also contributed, but were not as prominent.