

Plague occurred frequently in Egypt during the years b.c., and was also fairly common in Pal., esp. in Philistia, along the seacoast. Terrible outbreaks also occurred in Asia and Europe. In the 14th cent., plague, called Black Death, swept across Europe and killed an estimated 25,000,000 people, or one-fourth of the entire population. Even as late as 1907, 1,316,892 persons were reported from world-wide sources as having died from plague.

In the years before modern medicine, there was no known cure for plague. People did learn, however, that if rodents were drastically controlled, and fleas were discouraged by cleanliness, the spread of plague could be slowed down. Today there are medicines that usually cure the infected person if given promptly after symptoms first appear. Furthermore, vaccines are effective.

In Leviticus 13 and 14 (KJV) the word plague is used loosely for almost any kind of skin rash. It was the duty of the priests to determine whether the condition was relativel