Talk:Black Death

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2022 and 6 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hdgoble (article contribs).

Semi-protected edit request on 8 February 2026

please make it more suitable for younger children with more picture's Yakob123 (talk) 13:20, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. 🍅 fx (talk) 13:54, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Bacterial not viral

• What I think should be changed (format using {{textdiff}}): "For the virus that caused the plague, see Yersinia pestis." should be "For the bacterium that caused the plague..."
• Why it should be changed: Yersinia pestis is a bacterium not a virus per https://www.cdc.gov/plague/about/index.html

~2026-14593-22 (talk) 22:50, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Done. Thank you for noticing and pointing that out. -- Avocado (talk) 22:58, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

References

Semi-protected edit request on 11 March 2026

Change Middle East to South Asia as Middle East is a colonialist term coined by Europeans who viewed themselves as the center of the world. ~2026-83105-3 (talk) 01:12, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before posting an edit request. Umby 🌕🐶 (talk) 01:18, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Errors

there seem to be quite a few syntax errors throughout the entire article LordofThunder42 (talk) 19:52, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 March 2026

Change 'army army' to 'army', this is found under section 'Cultural Effect', sub section 'Effect on India' in the second paragraph. ~2026-19428-31 (talk) 06:45, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

 Done Day Creature (talk) 07:31, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 April 2026

Change Sun Simo to Sun Simiao, and include the wikipedia link of Sun Simiao. Mangosmoothie888 (talk) 13:49, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

 Done Day Creature (talk) 18:58, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 May 2026

REMOVE two paragraphs from 'Lack of Hygene' section. I quote below:

'By the early 14th century, so much filth had collected inside urban Europe that French and Italian cities were naming streets after human waste. In medieval Paris, several street names were inspired by merde, the French word for "shit". There were rue Merdeux, rue Merdelet, rue Merdusson, rue des Merdons and rue Merdiere—as well as a rue du Pipi.[87] Pigs, cattle, chickens, geese, goats and horses roamed the streets of medieval London and Paris.

Medieval homeowners were supposed to police their housefronts, including removing animal dung, but most urbanites were careless. William E. Cosner, a resident of the London suburb of Farringdon Without, received a complaint alleging that "men could not pass [by his house] for the stink [of] ... horse dung and horse piss." One irate Londoner complained that the runoff from the local slaughterhouse had made his garden "stinking and putrid", while another charged that the blood from slain animals flooded nearby streets and lanes, "making a foul corruption and abominable sight to all dwelling near." In much of medieval Europe, sanitation legislation consisted of an ordinance requiring homeowners to shout, "Look out below!" three times before dumping a full chamber pot into the street.[88]'

This section is entirely spurious, with no academic references and outdated myths about medieval hygene. The only references to the idea that human waste was thrown in the streets is from a book written by a non-academic. There are no direct citations because this is false. You can read more about these myths here: https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/cleanliness-in-the-middle-ages/

Further, even if there was sewage in the streets, which there was not, that has nothing to do with a disease spread via flea bites.

This book is not a reliable source for citation. Thank you so much for your attention. EleanorJanega (talk) 18:34, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: It's not clear why you believe that the Kelly book is not a reliable source. While it's popular history, you haven't provided any academic sources that contradict its statements, only a link to a podcast website that doesn't discuss the Black Death at all. Your conclusions that there was no sewage in medieval streets and that lack of sanitation played no role in the plague's transmission are purely your own. Day Creature (talk) 18:54, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

Contradiction

The article states that the origin of the Black Death is unknown or unclear, and suggests a number of large regions, i.e. it could have come from almost anywhere. Then, two paragraphs on, it says (in agreement with the Plague article) that its immediate source has been traced to graves in Kyrgyzstan. If that is correct (and it appears in two different articles) then the origin is known.

I haven't attempted to edit the article since I probably don't have the authority, but I would suggest the misleading statement is replaced with the text of the section headed 'Patient Zero' Chrismorey (talk) 14:00, 26 June 2026 (UTC)

Not really - that 2022 paper is most unlikely, in the nature of things, to have stopped all academic debate. It may well not represent the "origin" - that would be a fantastic coincidence- but just the earliest known appearance of the strain, based on what is presumably a tiny number of well-dated burials tested. Johnbod (talk) 16:35, 26 June 2026 (UTC)

Groundless claim in article.

"The deadlier aspect of the plague was a disease referred to as pneumonic plague or pea pox, which was very possibly a variant of smallpox." I could not find anything that can back this up. Where is this coming from? Source? Donglnap (talk) 08:49, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

the main problem is that this sentence not only mix up yersinia pestis to pea pox which is likely just historical name of small pox (totally different species), but also that it mix irrelevant (possibility of confection from separate wave of small pox epidemic) epidemic to black death, furthering the confusion. Donglnap (talk) 08:54, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 27 July 2026

−

The plague was not caused by a single disease, but is instead named after its most visually striking but not necessary lethal pathogen, the [[Bacteria|bacterium]] ''[[Yersinia pestis]]''. This disease is primarily spread by [[flea]] bites, though it may also possibly be spread by exposure to coughed up contaminated fluids such as [[blood]] and [[sputum]]. The deadlier aspect of the plague was a disease referred to as pneumonic plague or pea pox, which was very possibly a variant of [[smallpox]]. The popular notion that the disease was primarily spread by rats and their fleas has been challenged by scientists and archaeologists for over a decade, but new findings have been slow to change popular perceptions of the Black Death.

+

Paleogenetic research has established that the plague is attributed to the [[Bacteria|bacterium]] ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'' despite the past controversy due to uncertainty in retrospective diagnosis and technical problems. This disease can spread through flea bites, contact with tissue or fluids, inhalation of respiratory droplets and has high fatality. Different primary symptoms can manifest depending on transmission pathway; flea bite resulting in [[bubonic plague]], inhalation of droplets resulting in [[pneumonic plague]], and the bacteria reaching bloodstream resulting in [[septicemic plague]], although subsequent spread within the body is a significant factor. It has high fatality rate when untreated, particularly in its pneumonic and septicemic forms. How it mainly spread during the 14th century plague remains disputed due to wide-range of possible transmission pathways.

Paleogenetic research has established that the plague is attributed to the bacterium Yersinia pestis despite the past controversy due to uncertainty in retrospective diagnosis and technical problems. This disease can spread through flea bites, contact with tissue or fluids, inhalation of respiratory droplets and has high fatality. Different primary symptoms can manifest depending on transmission pathway; flea bite resulting in bubonic plague, inhalation of droplets resulting in pneumonic plague, and the bacteria reaching bloodstream resulting in septicemic plague, although subsequent spread within the body is a significant factor. It has high fatality rate when untreated, particularly in its pneumonic and septicemic forms. How it mainly spread during the 14th century plague remains disputed due to wide-range of possible transmission pathways.

Donglnap (talk) 15:09, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

References

Black death

3 billion people died in one day in Europe from the black death. Over 1 trillion people died over the course of the black death.@ ~2026-42271-92 (talk) 03:17, 30 July 2026 (UTC)