Entire cities decimated.
Bodies piling up on the streets.
And rats. Lots of rats.
The disease that devastated Medieval Europe
left millions of people dead, and left us with a scary question:
What would happen if the Black Death spread around the world again?
THE 20 MILLION DEATHS CAUSED BY THE GREAT PLAGUE
What if I told you that a single bacteria
was responsible for the death of around 20 million people
in just six years?
It's the year 1346.
The residents of Caffa wake up to a thunderous noise
and realize the town is completely surrounded
by the evil Tartar warriors.
With no army for a head-to-head battle,
they don't have a choice but to resist,
even knowing it's just a matter of time before the town falls.
Everything changes when something unexpected happens.
A mysterious disease begins to devastate the invading army.
As the days go by,
more and more Tartar soldiers die around the wall.
But the town's luck begins to change when the invaders start deploying
one of the first biological weapons in history.
Using catapults,
they start throwing rotten corpses into the town.
This makes the mysterious disease spread among the residents,
increasing the number of victims even more.
Their desperation is such that many decide to abandon the town
leaving on ships bound for Italy.
What they don't know is that the ships aren't taking only fugitives.
The disease is also on board.
Thus, the famous Black Death managed to spread across Europe,
causing millions of deaths along its way.
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
Did you know the Middle Ages suffered one of the worst epidemics in history?
-I didn't know that. -Oh, thanks.
But if I were there, I wouldn't have run away.
Sure, Adalberto.
You would've resisted the siege of Caffa and survived the plague on your own.
Do you even know what the Middle Ages were?
I know all about that.
-Really? -Hear me out.
It all began when they gave
three rings to the elves.
-Here we go... -No, wait.
That's The Lord of the Rings.
A great movie, I like it too, but it's not related to the Middle Ages.
That's Middle-Earth.
And when I think about the Middle Ages, the first thing that comes to my mind...
are the castles.
LINCOLN CASTLE ENGLAND
These structures are the symbols of the Middle Ages.
But at the same time, the story of that period
goes way beyond towers, kings, and princesses.
Actually, those were extremely troubled times.
The Middle Ages began in the 5th century and ended only in the 15th century.
In other words, they lasted around 1,000 years.
And the story I told about Caffa
took place during the second period of the Middle Ages,
the Late Middle Ages,
which started around the year 1000, a time when many things changed in Europe.
Historians even compare what happened during that time
with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from the Bible.
The first rider represents famine.
In the early 14th century,
climate change turned winter colder
and made summer rainier for some years.
This made food production in Europe decrease a lot.
It was the Great Famine.
THE GREAT FAMINE
People didn't have any food,
and 10% to 25% of the continent's population was eradicated.
The second rider represents war.
In that period, the famous Hundred Years' War happened.
For over a century,
thousands of soldiers from France and England
killed each other day by day
to see who would occupy the French throne.
And the third rider was plague.
Or more precisely, the Black Death.
During that time, it killed over 20 million people.
This was one of the most tense periods in history,
with poverty, war, and political intrigue.
Living in a world like that is far from being an epic and romantic adventure.
It looked more like an endless nightmare.
Castanhari, allow me to simulate with details
how much of a terror it was to live in the Middle Ages.
Can you simulate that, Briggs?
Life in that period was extremely hard.
Most of the time, the servants lived in shacks
with one single humid, dark room,
where they slept, and stored food and animals.
Entire families slept huddled on straw mattresses
to get warm during winter.
Those people used to wake up at daybreak
and work nonstop until nightfall.
That also applied to children,
who would start working at around the age of five.
In cities, between narrow and dark alleys,
life was even more chaotic.
There was no sewage, everything was filthy,
and people would walk and eat alongside garbage,
human waste and even dead animals.
Food was basically bread and soup made of vegetables and bones,
because meat and cheese were too expensive for commoners,
who might have no choice but to eat rotten food.
There wasn't any concern for cleanliness or health.
People ate with filthy hands,
didn't have oral hygiene
and basically didn't shower.
For many people, it was normal to wear the same underwear every day,
for years.
And who was the last rider of the Apocalypse?
Death, which can be interpreted as the result of wars,
famine, and the plague itself.
But what was the Black Death, exactly?
The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague
that spread incredibly fast throughout Europe.
Scientists believe that from 1347 to 1352
the disease killed from 15 to 23 million Europeans.
It was the most brutal period of the disease
that possibly killed from 75 to 200 million people.
At that time, the world population was around 365 million people.
This number had been increasing since the beginning of mankind,
but one of the first times it decreased
was due to the plague.
Castanhari, I don't think we should stay here.
What if she has the plague?
I have the flu, but that's good.
What do you mean, "that's good?"
I inoculated myself with the influenza virus
to map the proliferation speed in uncontrolled environments.
Funny. We were just talking about a disease, right, Betinho?
The bubonic plague.
Oh, I was studying about it the other day.
-My map of Asia was here somewhere. -Why are you guys talking about Asia?
Everything I said about the Middle Ages happened in Europe,
but there were other civilizations around the world.
Yeah, besides civilizations,
there were microorganisms mankind didn't know about.
Like this weird and dangerous little guy.
The Yersinia pestis,
an evolution of the bacteria Yersinia pseudotuberculosis,
that due to mutations over thousands of years
ended up transforming.
This bacteria causes an infection,
and its most common form is the bubonic plague.
The symptoms are one of the reasons why the disease is so scary.
As soon as the infection settles in the body,
there's fever,
chills, weakness, and headache.
As the bacteria settles in other parts of the body,
the suffering intensifies
with the appearance of bulges,
especially on the neck,
armpits, and groin,
which can grow to the size of an apple,
before bursting into a pus-filled wound.
These swollen lymph nodes, also known as buboes,
are so distinctive that people named the disease after them.
BUBONIC PLAGUE
Lymph nodes are small defense organs
spread throughout people's bodies.
When a foreign body is detected,
they start producing antibodies to attack it.
And the bubonic plague is named after the lymph nodes.
If someone contracts the disease, the lymph nodes,
usually located on the neck, armpits, and groin,
start swelling and become visible.
People call the swelling "bulges" or "buboes."
So, it was named the bubonic plague.
The disease can manifest itself in other ways too.
Like the pneumonic plague,
which affects the respiratory system.
And the septicemic plague,
in which the bacteria affects the bloodstream.
And why is it called Black Death?
This term was used in the Middle Ages because of another symptom.
Many people developed wounds,
and the extremities of their bodies, like feet and hands, gangrened.
The skin would blacken and literally die.
So, it was named the Black Plague, or the Black Death.
BLACK DEATH
By the way, it's about time we update our vocabulary, right?
Black Death, black market, blacklist...
These terms seem to be common, but they're derogatory
and reinforce a type of racial discrimination.
But Dr. Tay, why is this disease so different from others?
Because it's really aggressive and can kill in a few days.
But the most interesting thing is how it spread super quickly.
Allow me to demonstrate, Dr. Tayane.
The bacteria that causes the bubonic plague
likes to live inside wild rodent fleas.
Since Asia suffered severe flooding in the early 14th century,
these rodents, full of infected fleas,
had to leave their homes
and came into close contact with black rats,
which used to live near people.
Black rats would breed very easily,
and even lived in merchant caravans and ships.
Since trade in Asia was really intense,
the bacteria spread out through the continent.
A single flea bite was enough to infect someone.
European travelers were always crossing
Asian trade routes,
especially the famous Silk Road.
SILK ROAD
Along with riches,
these caravans transported
hundreds of rats with infected fleas.
The same thing happened with merchant ships.
That's how the plague began to spread throughout the world.
In 1346, the disease was only in Eastern Europe,
but a year later, it appeared in the Mediterranean regions.
Over the next five years, it'd come to dominate Italy,
France, Germany, England,
and, finally, Russia.
In a sense, we can say the plague was democratic.
It made no distinction between rich and poor, noble and commoner.
Nowadays, you could imagine that the poorest people from that time
were at greater risk of contracting the disease.
The elite were protected inside castles like this,
which were a symbol of power,
and far from the dirt of the streets.
But the nobles who lived in these castles were not immune.
The castles' strong defense and huge walls
could stop enemy invasions,
but they didn't stand a chance against the plague bacteria.
At that time, these castles weren't exactly
hygienic role models.
They were humid and dark
and had food storage rooms
that were literally paradise for rats.
Did you know there's a theory that rats aren't the only villains here?
A recent study showed rats alone wouldn't have been enough
to spread the disease across such a vast area
in such a short time.
So, scientists ran a simulation
and found out that this bacteria probably wasn't just in rat fleas,
but also in people's head lice.
This is entirely possible
because with the lack of hygiene in the Middle Ages,
cities were like feasts for lice,
which contaminated one person after another.
La muerte.
-It's me. -Oh, my God, Castanhari!
You scared me!
What's that mask you were wearing?
I know it's hard to find one that fits your nose, but...
Are you a comedian now? This is the clothing doctors used
to walk around contaminated cities in the 17th century.
Didn't this plague happen at least 300 years before that?
Actually, the bubonic plague was never gone for good.
There were outbreaks up to the 19th century.
One of the outbreaks occurred right here in London.
From 1665 to 1666,
100,000 people fell victim to the bubonic plague here.
I'm talking about a quarter of the entire population of London.
Over many years, London had small outbreaks of the disease
due to a lack of hygiene. In the 17th century,
the town was surrounded by walls that kept thieves on the outside
and tons of filth on the inside.
So, the plague struck again.
There were so many deaths that cemeteries became full,
and the bodies were buried in ditches.
After some time, they didn't even do that anymore,
and the corpses were literally abandoned on the streets.
Did they really have to dress like a bird from hell?
Adalberto, think about it. The clothing could protect the doctors
because it was made of leather.
The mask, in the shape of a beak,
was full of herbs and other substances that filtered the air.
They believed the disease was transmitted
by the malodor released by contaminated or dead people.
The mere presence of these doctors
was even scarier than the clothing.
They were hired by the cities themselves
to treat infected people.
So, when they showed up somewhere,
it was a sign that the place was completely contaminated,
with thousands of people dying.
That's why nobody wanted to see those doctors.
Everybody knew that wherever they were,
death was near.
Jesus.
At least those monsters were there to help people, right?
Sort of.
Actually, in most cases, they were second-rate doctors,
prohibited from practicing medicine under normal circumstances.
Basically, they would go to the cities
to count the dead and infected.
They'd charge the families a fee and prescribe fake medicine.
In other words, they'd take advantage of people's despair
to make even more money.
I don't get it.
If the disease spread so quickly
and so many people died, why didn't everyone else die?
A hypothesis says that after a great number of deaths,
most of the survivors
were the people most resistant to the disease.
Then, it was hard for the bacteria to spread.
But of course, it's just a hypothesis.
The fact is that the bubonic plague has never been cured.
European medicine has never developed a definitive medication
that would eliminate the disease for good.
People also developed habits
that helped decrease the transmission rate,
like using Arab hygiene techniques,
and simple actions, like washing your hands.
Another method to keep the plague away was by watching the ocean closely.
Since ships were full of rats,
people from coastal cities knew
that any vessel
could bring death closer to them.
There was so much fear that the French determined
that any ship arriving at the shore
should remain isolated for 40 days before docking.
40 DAYS
All that to confirm that nobody on board was infected.
That's where the term "quarantine" came from.
Seems cruel, right, Tay? But that was done to prevent the disease
from spreading to other places.
In fact, there's an interesting story about it
that took place in England, in the 17th century.
EYAM VILLAGE
This place, with only 900 residents today,
was also stricken by the bubonic plague.
People died here every day.
Residents knew the disease was highly contagious,
so they did the only thing they could do:
isolate themselves on their own. Nobody could get in or out of this town.
They even built a rock barrier for that purpose.
But people needed to eat, so they would dip coins into vinegar,
because they thought vinegar could work as a disinfectant,
and they would put the coins into rocks like this.
Residents from nearby villages would come,
take the coins and leave food here. It was a kind of long-distance trade.
They literally sacrificed themselves.
The population of 344 residents
was reduced to less than 100.
Even now, if you walk around the village, you can find markers
with the names of people who lost their lives to the plague.
These are just a few of the names of Eyam's residents
who were victims of this disease.
As centuries went by, countless people died due to the plague
in many places across the planet,
including Brazil.
In 1899, a ship that arrived at the Port of Santos
was full of rats that brought the bubonic plague
to the Brazilian territory.
The disease began to spread, and eventually reached Rio de Janeiro,
which was the Brazilian capital at the time.
The epidemic claimed hundreds of victims,
but the most affected
were the port area residents and warehouse workers.
In other words, the poorest people in the city.
Things started to change in 1904.
To fight epidemics of bubonic plague, smallpox, and yellow fever,
the government started an authoritarian campaign
that led to an uprising known as the Vaccine Revolt.
But at least their actions to improve sewage treatment
ended up helping to control the bubonic plague
in the former Brazilian capital.
It was controlled, Castanhari,
but not completely eradicated.
So, the disease is still around,
even with people washing their hands?
Since the bacteria lives in wild rodents,
we can't eradicate the disease.
So Briggs is right.
We still have reported cases of the bubonic plague to this day.
From 2010 to 2015, there were a little over 3,000 cases,
which caused around 500 deaths.
The numbers are low compared to that time.
But, yes, the disease is still out there.
And if the disease is around, an epidemic is still possible,
for many reasons.
First of all, scientists believe that global warming could interfere
in the dynamic of the plague transmission,
since an ecological imbalance could create an unpredictable scenario,
like the Asian floods at the beginning of the 14th century.
Besides, Yersinia pestis is still undergoing mutations
and has become resistant to some antibiotics.
So, it continues to be a very dangerous bacteria.
I'm starting to feel like I'm back in the Middle Ages.
Stop it, Betinho.
Look how much you've learned about the bubonic plague.
You don't have to be afraid anymore. Everything's fine.
Adalberto, relax.
The last reported case of the plague in Brazil
was in 2005.
Calm down, Betinho.
The disease is still around, but we already have ways to deal with it.
Science can identify the bubonic plague in its early stages.
So, it's easier to treat it by taking antibiotics.
But you know what I'm wondering?
Would an epidemic change the world now,
just like in the Middle Ages?
Black Death was one of the biggest tragedies in history.
However, we can't deny it increased our knowledge
in many areas.
After the epidemic,
the way society of the time considered medicine, for example,
changed completely.
The importance of surgeons became even more evident,
and hospitals gained a new importance.
These places that basically served as guesthouses for travelers
began to offer medical care,
getting closer and closer to the hospitals we know today.
One century after the epidemic, the Middle Ages came to an end,
opening the doors to a new period in the history of mankind.
Without the plague,
the story could have been completely different.