<P> The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague or simply Plague, or less commonly as the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351 . The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague, is believed to have been the cause . The plague created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history . </P> <P> The Black Death is thought to have originated in the dry plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343 . From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe . </P>

Is the black death an epidemic or pandemic