Here’s what to know about the pneumonic plague, a rare illness related to the bubonic plague.
What is the difference between the bubonic and pneumonic plagues?
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The plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. There are three common forms of plague: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic.
The bubonic plague, the most well known, killed tens of millions of people in Asia and Europe in the 14th century in a pandemic known as the Black Death. In the public imagination it is often thought of as a medieval disease, but it still exists — in a far more manageable context thanks to modern antibiotics.
Bubonic plague involves an infection of the lymph nodes, while pneumonic plague affects the lungs and septicemic plague the blood. The types can coexist if the bacteria spreads within the body after an initial infection.
