The Black Death. The Bubonic Plague. Originating in China in 1334, it traveled the silk trade routes from Asia, reaching Europe in 1347, where it spread across the continent in the worst pandemic in recorded history. By some estimates, it claimed the lives of two hundred million people, nearly half the world’s population. Today, there are over seven billion humans on the planet. It no longer takes years for disease to spread by caravan across the deserts. It travels by car, by train, and by plane. An outbreak of Ebola that started in the West African country of Guinea grabbed the world’s attention when it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. In eight months, the virus infected over 8,000 people. Over 4,000 died. It was the worst Ebola outbreak in history, the first true epidemic of the virus since its discovery in 1976. The Director of the CDC said it would only get worse before it got better. Then it did. They called it the Blacker Death.