{"id":94649,"date":"2025-08-26T19:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T19:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/94649\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T19:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T19:33:10","slug":"gruesome-simulation-reveals-what-the-black-death-does-to-the-body-as-american-patient-tests-positive-for-plague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/94649\/","title":{"rendered":"Gruesome simulation reveals what ‘the black death’ does to the body – as American patient tests positive for plague"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ELEN JOHNSTON, HEALTH REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 12:13 EDT, 26 August 2025 | Updated: 12:14 EDT, 26 August 2025 <\/p>\n

An illuminating video has captured in alarming detail exactly what happens to the body after catching the plague.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The medieval illness\u2014one of the most deadly in history\u2014ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351 and killed tens of millions of people.<\/p>\n

Cases of the condition, dubbed the black death, today are rare, with modern antibiotics drastically reducing deaths.<\/p>\n

But officials were alarmed last week after an unidentified adult in the US tested positive for the plague and was recovering at home after receiving medical care.<\/p>\n

It is believed an infected flea bit the patient, who was camping in the South Lake Tahoe area. No other information on their condition was released.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the minute-long YouTube video published<\/a> by\u00a0Zack D. Films\u2014who boasts 23 million subscribers\u2014has shown how the bacterial infection passes through the body and affects different limbs, without any treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘If you got bitten by a flea, a bacterium would enter your body and begin to multiply quickly,’ it said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘They would head to your lymph nodes, causing them to swell up and forming painful bumps in your armpits.<\/p>\n

\"The \"It <\/p>\n

The video simulation shows in gruesome detail what happens to the body once it is infected<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A person living near Lake Tahoe (pictured) tested positive for the plague (file photo)<\/p>\n

\"Plague <\/p>\n

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is carried by fleas and transmitted between animals. The picture above is a 3D illustration of the bacterium<\/p>\n

‘The bacteria can also get into your bloodstream, causing bleeding under your skin. This bleeding makes your skin turn dark and black in certain spots.’<\/p>\n

The simulation then shows the person’s finger tips becoming black before spreading slowly across the limbs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Left untreated, the infection can ravage enters the bloodstream and travels to the lungs, causing deadly infections.<\/p>\n

Once the disease enters cells, it kills them by releasing deadly toxins.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the video, users expressed their shock at how quickly the infection spreads.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘This is why I’m grateful to have been born in this era. Where medicine and science are advanced enough to handle situations like this,’ one wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures show there have been no cases of the plague found in the UK since 1918.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The risk of an infected person returning to Britain from abroad is low, the agency says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plague is caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis, usually found in small mammals and their fleas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It still occurs in several countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the US.<\/p>\n

Last month, the US recorded their first plague death<\/a> since 2007, in Arizona.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are three forms of the plague: bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.<\/p>\n

But the most common is the bubonic plague, named after ‘buboes’, the painful swollen bumps the infection causes.<\/p>\n

Symptoms that develop one to seven days after infection include a sudden onset of fever, chills, head and body aches, fatigue, weakness, vomiting and nausea.<\/p>\n

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