Overview of: 'When the Plague Strikes' by James GiblinThis book is divided into three main parts: the Black Death, smallpox and AIDS. This book provides facts about current illnesses and past illnesses. The content of this book mainly took place in Europe and Asia when it provided facts, dates and examples. Explains the nature and symptoms of diseases dating back to ancient times. Bubonic plague primarily affects rodents, but fleas can transmit the disease to humans. Once people are infected, they infect others very quickly, the disease strikes and kills people with terrible speed. They called it “The Black Death” because of the black spots it produced on the skin. A terrible killer was roaming all over Europe and medieval medicine had nothing to oppose. Twenty-five million people died in five years from the Black Death. So many people had died that there was a severe labor shortage throughout Europe. The Black Death came in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemia. Each different form of plague killed people horribly. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. The symptoms were swollen and inflamed lymph nodes (around the armpits, neck and groin). The term “bubonic” refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymph gland. “Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, joint pain, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting and a general feeling of malaise. Symptoms took 1 to 7 days to appear. The bubonic plague is just the medical term for the Black Death” (Giblin 11). Smallpox is a serious, contagious, and sometimes fatal infectious disease. There is no specific treatment for smallpox disease and the only prevention is vaccination. The name smallpox comes from the Latin word “spotted” and refers to the raised bumps that appear on the face and body of an infected person. Smallpox epidemics have occurred off and on for thousands of years, but the disease is now eradicated thanks to a successful worldwide vaccination program. The last case of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1949. The last natural case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. Generally, direct, face-to-face contact is required to spread smallpox from one person to another. quite prolonged. Smallpox can also spread through direct contact with infected body fluids or contaminated objects such as bedding or clothing. “Early symptoms of smallpox include fever, malaise, head and body pain, and sometimes vomiting.