The Black Death spread through trade networks from "summary" of The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
The Black Death, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, did not simply appear out of nowhere. It was a result of interconnectedness and the flow of goods and people along trade routes. The movement of merchants and travelers along the Silk Roads facilitated the spread of the disease, as rats carrying infected fleas hitched rides on their carts and ships. The bustling trade networks that crisscrossed Asia, Europe, and Africa were essential in transmitting the bacterium responsible for the Black Death. As merchants traveled from one region to another, they unwittingly carried the plague with them, unknowingly seeding new outbreaks in different cities and towns along the way. The exchange of goods and ideas that occurred along these routes helped create the conditions for the rapid spread of the disease. Cities, with their dense populations and bustling markets, were particularly vulnerable to the spread of the Black Death. As infected individuals arrived in urban centers, the disease quickly took hold, spreading like wildfire through overcrowded streets and cramped living...
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