What was the path of the black plague?
The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. It probably began in Central Asia and spread to Europe by the late 1340s. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. The plague disease, caused by Yersinia pestis, is enzootic (commonly present) in populations of ground rodents in central Asia, but it is not entirely clear where the 14th century pandemic started. The most popular theory places the first cases in the steppes of Central Asia, though some speculate that it originated around northern India. Others argue that the historical evidence concerning epidemics in the Mediterranean and specifically the Plague of Justinian point to a probability that the Black Death originated in Africa and spread to central Asia, where it then became entrenched among the rodent population. Nevertheless, from central Asia it was carried east and west along the Silk Road, by Mongol armies and traders making use of the oppor
