1. Bubonic Plague differs from Pneumonic Plague in that

a) Bubonic Plague has high mortality but Pneumonic is relatively harmless
b) Bubonic Plague is caused by a bacterium but Pneumonic Plague is caused by a virus
c) Bubonic Plague is transmitted by the bite of a flea but Pneumonic Plague is transmitted by aerosols
d) Bubonic Plague is transmitted by rats but Pneumonic Plague is transmitted by fleas
e) Pneumonic Plague (the “Plague of Justinian”) died out in Europe in about the year 760 and was replaced by a more virulent form of Bubonic Plague (the “black death”) in 1347.

2. The effect of the first few waves of the Black Death (1347 to 1500) on European population was

a) an overall reduction in population of about 10%
b) an overall reduction in population of about 50%
c) an overall reduction in population of about 90-95%
d) a reduction of about 70% in the South of Europe but only about 5-8% in the North
e) a reduction of about 70% in the North of Europe (especially England) but only about 5-8% in the South.

3. Bubonic Plague is currently

a) decimating the population of Bangladesh
b) raging uncontrolled in sub-Saharan Africa
c) wiped out almost completely, with only a small pocket of infected rodents in the Himalayan foothills
d) endemic (continuously present) in the wild rodents of Western US
e) being used to control the rabbit population in Australia

4. Bubonic Plague is caused by a bacterium of the genus

a) Vibrio
b) Yersinia
c) Salmonella
d) Mycobacterium
e) Treponema

5. The Black Death is called Bubonic Plague because

a) the agent that causes it collects in the lymph nodes (“glands”) and causes swelling
b) the agent that causes it collects in the lungs and becomes an aerosol that is spread by coughing
c) the agent that causes it grows in the bloodstream causing death with 24-36 hours
d) the agent that causes it can survive inside phagocytes for a few days and evade the immune system
e) the physician who first described its symptoms was Pierre Comte du Boubonne

6. Between 1890 and 1910,

a) a pandemic of influenza swept through the world, killing 20-40 million people in the worst single year
b) an epidemic of influenza swept though Russia, reducing its population by almost 10% and delaying its entry into the industrialized West
c) an epidemic of influenza swept through the chicken farms of the East Coast of the United States, decimating the national supply of chickens
d) tuberculosis was introduced into the South America
e) bubonic plague became endemic in the rodents of the Southwestern United States

7. The bubonic plague is slower than pneumonic plague to kill its victims and also somewhat more survivable because

a) rat saliva has a compound that temporarily inhibits growth of Yersinia pestis
b) flea saliva has a compound that temporarily inhibits growth of Yersinia pestis
c) virulence factors needed for growth in warm blooded animals (humans) are not expressed in cold blooded animals (fleas)
d) human saliva has a compound that accelerated the onset of growth of Yersinia pestis
e) the aerosolized form of Yersinia pestis is somewhat less pathogenic than that carried by fleas

8. In the childrens’ nursery rhyme “Ring around a Rosie,” the Rosie probably refers to

a) the red rash associated with typhoid fever
b) the flowers planted on the mass graves of victims of epidemics
c) the red rash associated with bubonic plague
d) The floral symbol used to identify physicians in the middle ages
e) the red rings that formed around the cornea of the eye during recurrences of active tuberculosis

9. Bubonic Plague is usually transmitted to humans by the bite of a

a) Flea
b) Tick
c) Mosquito
d) Dog
e) Rat

10. The “Plague of Justinian” that followed the fall of Rome was probably an outbreak of

a) Cholera
b) Tuberculosis
c) Influenza
d) Bubonic plague
e) Typhoid Fever

11. What usually kills bubonic plague victims?

a) Secondary bacterial pneumonia
b) Weakening of the immune response
c) Loss of fluid (water) from the body
d) Starvation due to inability to swallow
e) Septicemia (growth of bacteria in the blood)

12. Bubonic Plague is so named after buboes. What are buboes?

a) black-appearing swellings of lymph nodes
b) disfiguring pustules that form on the body, especially the face and trunk, and leave scars for life on the survivors of the infection
c) the chants of Italian gravediggers “Bubbonni mortandi” or “Bring out your dead”
d) a nickname for quack (fake) physicians