lague or black death is an infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentially transmitted to humans by the bite of infected fleas. The disease follows urban and sylvatic cycles and is manifested in bubonic and pneumonic forms [note: bubo is derived from a Greek word for groin]. The Black Death was one of the great epidemic scourges of mankind. It swept across Europe and Asia in a series of devastating pandemics during the Middle Ages. This disease was responsible for the death of one-third of the world's population at that time. For largely unknown reasons, bubonic plague ceased to be an important pandemic disease. No major epidemics have occurred in Europe or North America in more than a century." (pozn. autori vypustili tretiu, evidentne malo znamu, intestinalnu formu moru.;)

http://www.kcom.edu/faculty/chamberlain/Website/lectures/lecture/plague.htm

mam taku tezu...a sice, fakt, ze (zapadnu a strednu) europu nepostihli poslednych 100 rokov ziadne vacsie epidemie moru sa, okrem prvych objavov v oblasti chemoterapie inf. ochoreni a celkovej 'hygienizacie' miest v europe prekryva s istym faktom, ktory tam podla mna znacne prispel. pred ca. 100-150 rokmi doslo k zmene zlozenia synantropnych populacii mysovitych hlodavcov -- predtym prevladajuci cierny potkan, cesky 'krysa', Rattus rattus, ktory bol hlavnym hostitelom nakazy Y. pestis v stredovekej europe i neskorsich epidemiach, bol spociatku vytlacovany potkanom hnedym, Rattus norvegicus, zaroven sa zacali zavadzat v mestach ako sucast hygienickych opatreni i prve planovane plosne preventivne deratizacne zasahy (pasce, jedy), cim sa kontakt cloveka s hostitelom ochorenia este viac obmedzil.

dnes je nakaza morom prakticky mozna len v tych castiach sveta, kde sa Y. pestis vyskytuje u endemickych populacii hlodavcov, ktore su schopne dostat sa do kontaktu s clovekom.