Symptoms consist of a high fever, aching limbs, and fatigue. Next the lymph nodes of the neck, groin, and armpit areas swell and turn black. The black swellings are what gave the Black Death its name. The victim vomits blood and in some instances suffer hysteria. Exposure to the bacterium is spread through any bodily fluids. The bursting of the lymph nodes is what triggers death. Prevention is extremely difficult.
As winter approached, colder temperatures killed fleas and rats became inactive. This made the Europeans think that they were clear of the plague that affected them the summer. Unfortunately, the disease had not disappeared. It was dormant. Europe was then stricken with new outbreaks in areas where the temperatures were again suitable for a hospitable environment for flea and rat populations.
Groups most ravaged by the Black Death had already suffered from famine earlier in the fourteenth century. Storms and drought caused crop failures. These malnourished peasants fell victim with little resistance from their weak immune systems.
Most first handwritten accounts that are present today read like this one from the site of the first plague cases in Italy,