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The Black Death is believed to have been an outbreak of which disease?
ATyphoid fever caused by Salmonella Typhi
BBubonic plague caused by Yersinia pestis
CBotulism caused by Clostridium botulinum
DLyme disease caused by a Borrelia species
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Bubonic plague caused by Yersinia pestis
1. The Black Death ran from 1346 to 1361 and is believed to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague.
2. The causative bacterium is Yersinia pestis.
3. It is thought to have started in China and travelled the Silk Road, carried by rat fleas on black rats aboard ships.
4. World population fell from an estimated 450 million to about 350 to 375 million.
5. Typhoid, botulism and Lyme disease have entirely different agents.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 22 "Prokaryotes: Bacteria and Archaea", section 22.4 Bacterial Diseases in Humans_
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