An old engraving of a street scene during The Great Plague of London, England, UK c. 1655. It is from a Victorian history book of A woman lies dead or dying in the street. The bubonic plague lasted from 1665 to 1666 and killed about 100,000 people – almost a quarter of London's population – in 18 months. It was caused by the bite of a rat flea or body lice. There was no sanitation, and open drains flowed along the centre of the streets. The stench was overwhelming, and people walked around with handkerchiefs (nosegays) pressed against their faces.
An old engraving of a street scene during the time of The Great Plague of London, England, UK c. 1655. It is from a Victorian history book of A woman lies dead or dying in the street. The Great Plague lasted from 1665 to 1666, was the most recent major epidemic of the bubonic plague. It killed an estimated 100,000 people – almost a quarter of London's population – in 18 months. The plague was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually transmitted to a human by the bite of a flea or louse. The epidemic was on a much smaller scale than the earlier Black Death pandemic. There was no sanitation, and open drains flowed along the centre of winding streets, buzzing with flies in summer, and awash with sewage in winter. The City Corporation employed ‘rakers’ to remove the worst of the filth, and it was transported to mounds outside the walls, where it accumulated and continued to decompose. The stench was overwhelming, and people walked around with handkerchiefs (nosegays) pressed against their nostrils. It is now believed that human body lice also played a key role in causing infections, perhaps more so than rat fleas.
Size: 3114px × 4134px
Location: London, England, UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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