"Patient Zero is infected with a previously dormant strain of Yersinia pestis from an unknown origin. Humanity must face a deadly bacterium that has hidden for centuries - previously killing over 200 million people. However, the world has changed a lot in 700 years with better hygiene and more antibiotics. Will the disease be able to adapt and spread before its victims die off?" - Plague Inc., Black Death introduction paragraph
The Black Death is a plague type and scenario introduced with the Scenarios Update. It is the first scenario and, depending on which edition of the game being played (PC/iOS), it needs to be beaten in order to unlock other scenarios. Its default name is its real-life scientific name, Yersinia pestis.
Traits
The plague starts with Flea 1, Fever, Coma, Necrosis, Buboes and Bubonic plague, and these cannot be devolved. It is quite lethal from the beginning and therefore impossible to keep hidden, making it one of the fastest-paced diseases in the game, rivaling even the Nano-Virus.
Transmissions
Zoonotic Transmissions
These Transmissions can only be taken by first taking the 'Flea 1' trait, already evolved at the start of the game.
| Flea 1 – Common flea susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in urban regions and mutation. |
| Flea 2 – Flea bites less likely to cause adverse reaction in host - increasing infectivity |
| Flea 3 – Pathogen produces exotoxin that kills most infected fleas - reducing infectivity. However survivors resistant to synthetic insecticides. |
| Flea 4 – Pathogen exotoxin accelerate flea life cycle - significantly reducing egg and larva susceptibility to extreme climates. |
| Rodent 1 – Rodents directly susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in urban regions and mutation. |
| Rodent 2 – Pathogen survives in rodent droppings. Infectivity increased, especially in urban regions. |
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Bird 1 – Birds become susceptible to infection. Avian carriers increase infectivity, land transmission and mutation. |
| Bird 2 – Avian brain tissue compromised causing birds to attack other species. Increases mutation, infectivity and land based transmission. |
| Livestock 1 – Livestock suscetible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in rural regions and mutation. |
| Livestock 2 – Wildlife susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in rural regions and mutation. |
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Extreme Zoonosis – Infection crosses multiple species barrier. Increase infectivity, especially in rural and urban areas, mutation chance and cross-country transmission. |
Pneumonic Plague
These Transmissions can only be taken by first taking the 'Pneumonic Plague' ability, available at the start of the game.
| Air 1 – Gives pathogen ability to travel on dust particles. Increase infectivity, especially in arid environments and plane transmission. |
| Air 2 – Gives organism ability to survive suspended in air for a long time. Increase infectivity, especially in arid environments and plane transmission. |
| Water 1 – Pathogen can survive outside the body in fresh, warm water. Increase infectivity, especially in humid environments and ship transmission. |
| Water 2 – Pathogen able to survive in chemically treated water. Increase infectivity, especially in humid environments and ship transmission. |
| Extreme Bioaerosol – Pathogen bypasses air/water filters due to adaptive cellular shell. Increase infectivity, especially in humid & arid climates and plane/ship transmission. |
Symptoms
Bubonic Symptoms
These Symptoms are available at the start of the game.
| Tier 1 | |
| Rash | The skin becomes blistered and painful, slightly increasing infectivity. |
| Cysts | Painful lumps containing pockets of the pathogen. Slight chance of bursting which can spread disease. |
| Tier 2 | |
| Sweating | The loss of fluid through sweating also increases infection rates due to poor hygiene. More dangerous in cold countries. |
| Hyper sensitivity | Increases likelihood of allergic reactions which can distract the immune system. Rich regions particularly vulnerable. |
| Tier 3 | |
| Fever | Increase in temperature, contagiousness and severe dehydration which can be fatal. (Note: Already evolved from the start) |
| Inflammation | Inflammation obstructs bodily processes. Swelling can obstruct breathing and be fatal. |
| Tier 4 | |
| Immune Suppression | Pathogens attach to lymphocytes, suppressing immune system and allowing significantly greater freedom of mutation. Can be lethal. |
| Skin Lesions | Breakdown in the epidermis causes large open wounds which significantly increase infectivity. |
| Seizures | Random Blackouts and fits reduce the patient's ability to function independently. Can be lethal. |
| Paralysis | Pathogen destroys motor neurons to cause paralysis. Significantly harder to cure and can be lethal. |
| Tier 5 | |
| Necrosis | Large swathes of infected tissue lose blood supply and become fatal source of gangrene. Decomposed bodies remain a vector of transmission. (Note: Already evolved from the start) |
| Coma | Neuropathic effects in the brain stem cause loss of consciousness and sometimes death. Significantly harder to cure. (Note: Already evolved from the start) |
| Buboes | Infected lymph nodes become swollen and inflamed. Bursting can aerosolise contents and infect others. (Note: Already evolved from the start) |
Pneumonic Symptoms
These Symptoms can only be taken by first taking the 'Pneumonic Plague' ability, available at the start of the game.
| Tier 1 | |
| Coughing | Chance of infection by spreading pathogen into surroundings, especially in high density urban areas. |
| Tier 2 | |
| Pneumonia | Serious fluid build and discharge from the lungs. People in cold climates especially vulnerable. |
| Sneezing | Fluid discharge through sneezing greatly increases infection rates. |
| Tier 3 | |
| Pulmonary Oedema | Potentially fatal heart abnormality causes breakdown of respiratory system, releasing pathogen into the air. |
| Tier 4 | |
| Haemoptysis | Coughing up blood from inflamed bronchi increases infectivity and is fatal in extreme cases. |
Septicemic Symptoms
These Symptoms can only be taken by first taking the 'Septicemic Plague' ability, available at the start of the game.
| Tier 1 | |
| Nausea | Irritated stomach lining leads to discomfort. Slight chance of infection when kissing. |
| Tier 2 | |
| Vomiting | The expulsion of infected material through projectile vomiting increases the risk of infection. |
| Hypotension | Low blood pressure deprives organs of oxygen and nutrients, increasing severity and causing profound fatigue. |
| Abscesses | Pockets of infected flesh are painful and act as breeding grounds for the pathogen, increasing infection rates when burst. |
| Tier 3 | |
| Internal Haemorrhaging | Arterial membranes break down, causing rapid internal bleeding and death. |
| Diarrhoea | Pathogen active in digestive tract, causing infection through faeces and potentially lethal dehydration. Poor countries very vulnerable. |
| Tier 4 | |
| Hemorrhagic Shock | Severe loss of blood volume causes oxygen deprivation, loss of consciousness and death. |
| Systemic Infection | Pathogen affects multiple organs and tissue types, causing body-wide infections that spread fast and can be lethal |
| Tier 5 | |
| Dysentery | A complete breakdown in the digestive system causes infected sewage, dehydration, starvation and death. |
| Total Organ Failure | Catastrophic cell death of multiple tissue types causes body-wide organ failure and rapid death. |
Abilities
Climate Abilities
These abilities will affect the plague in different countries, climates and temperatures.
| Cold Resistance 1 | Pathogen evolves to withstand cold temperatures and climates. |
| Cold Resistance 2 | Lower intracellular water volume prevents freezing. Increased effectiveness in cold climates |
| Heat Resistance 1 | Pathogen evolves to withstand hot temperatures and climates |
| Heat Resistance 2 | Pathogen avoids cellular breakdown in high temperatures. Increased effectiveness in hot climates. |
| Environmental Hardening | Pathogen develops hardened coating - becoming highly weather resistant and extremely comfortable in both hot and cold climates. |
Cure/Drug Resistance Abilities
These abilities will affect the plague's resistance against treatments and drugs. They will also slow down cure creation speed and increase more work required to create a cure.
| Drug Resistance 1 | Pathogen becomes resistant to class 1 and 2 antibiotics. Increase effectiveness in wealthy countries. |
| Drug Resistance 2 | Pathogen develops resistance to class 3 and 4 antibiotics. Increase effectiveness in wealthy countries. |
| Drug Resistance 3 | Pathogen highly resistant to all known antibiotics. Harder to develop cure. |
| Genetic Hardening 1 | Pathogen becomes harder to analyse in the lab. Decreases future research speed. |
| Genetic Hardening 2 | The pathogen does not reproduce in lab conditions. Decreases future research speed. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 1 | Pathogen DNA strands reassembled. More work needed to develop a cure. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 2 | A new strain of the pathogen now exists, increasing the work needed to develop a cure. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 3 | Multiple strains of the pathogen now exists, increasing the work needed to develop a cure. |
| Hardened Reshuffle 1 | Pathogen DNA structure reassembled and highly unstable. Significantly harder to develop cure and also slows research speed. |
| Hardened Reshuffle 2 | Pathogen DNA structure reassembled and highly unstable. Significantly harder to develop cure and also slows research speed. |
Unique Abilities
These are abilities exclusive to the plague, Black Death.
| Septicemic plague | Gain ability to infect the blood stream and develop septicemic form of plague. Rare and very lethal. |
| Pneumonic plague | Gain ability to infect respiratory system and develop pneumonic form of plague. Airborne and virulent. |
| Bubonic plague | Gain ability to infect lymphatic system and develop bubonic form of plague. Zoonotic and lethal. |
Strategy
The name of the game is speed. Infect quickly, or you will lose quickly. For strategies and tips, please see Black Death Strategy Guides.
Trivia
- One of the reasons why the Black Death spread so quickly through European populations was because the rats would die of the disease, and the bacteria would cause a blockage in the flea's gut, making it more likely to bite multiple people.
