The word ‘plague’ immediately conjures images of a medieval time-period, rats, and, if you have a brain like mine, Monty Python performers shouting ‘bring out yer dead’.
In fact, there were three pandemics of plague – the 17th century ‘black death’ being the best known. All three pandemic plagues – the Justinian plague of the 5th century, the medieval black plague and the third pandemic or ‘modern plague’ - had significantly high mortality rates and as a result have changed the course of civilisation.
