'Black Death' Plague That Killed 20 Crore People 700 Years Ago Has Re-Surfaced Now In China

The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death, is one of the most devastating pandemics in history.

It killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people across Europe and Asia between 1346 to 1353. And though it's dies out since, it may have just resurfaced in China.

Doctors in China have reportedly diagnosed two people with the pneumonic plague, the most serious form of the disease, according to state-run news agency Xinhua News. Both patients are from China's Inner Mongolia region, and authorities say the've received "proper treatment".

According to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, one of the patients is now stable while the other is still in a critical condition. However, their health has supposedly "not deteriorated."

The Black Death comes in three variants, bubonic, septicaemic, and pneumonic, with each of them targeting different body parts. The virus has largely died out since but it's not been exterminated, so it still crops up from time to time.

The pneumonic plague targets a victim's lungs and is the only one of the three that can also spread between people through infected air droplets or contaminated clothing and objects. It's also 100 percent fatal if left untreated.

Chinese authorities say there's a very low likelihood the disease will spread from the two patients. However, it seems the patients first sought treatment about a week before doctors confirmed the diagnosis. Which means there may have been a week for the virus to spread, if precautionary care wasn't taken in the face of the unknown. On top of that, one of the patients reportedly experienced some of the illness' symptoms for at least 10 days before seeking help.

Back in the 14th century, the Black Plague killed so many people because there was no way to treat it. Not only was it hard to prevent the spread of the plague, but antibiotics wouldn't be invented for the next 600-odd years. Now we have plenty of ways to treat the disease of course.

The only issue is doctors won't expect the Black Death in the 21st century, so diagnosis may take time, if it's not dismissed altogether. And that also depends on patients first seeking prompt help. Because without those two, we have the makings of another pandemic.