Way back in the 14th century, public health officials didn't understand viruses, but they understood the importance of keeping a distance and disinfecting. Almost 700 years ago, the overwhelmed physicians and health officials fighting the bubonic plague in medieval Italy had no notion of viruses or bacteria, but they understood enough about the Black Death to implement some of the world's first anti-contagion measures: Social Distancing and Quarantine.

Concepts

pandemics

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Additional Tags

a&e television networks, llc, black death (bubonic plague), social distancing and quarantine

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 5 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)