Several hundrer years ago, in a dusty alley in a small North African seaport, a flea jumped onto the back of a dying rat, and bit it. On another continent, millions of people would die because of that flea bite Disease bacteria from the rat grew inside the flea. The flea hopped onto a passing sailor and bit him, injecting the man with deadly germs.

If the sailor noticed the flea bite, he thought little of it. Vermin were part of his life. Yet only five days out to sea, after a bout of fever, chills, and with ugly discolored lumps under both arms, the sailor's dead body was thrown into the sea. Sickness spread to the crew - and to the ship's rats. The rats passed the disease to more fleas. On arrival in Italy, the ship delivered a carfo of death.

The ship delivered bubonic plague to Europe. The plague spread quickly and killed many. Medieval workers walked the streets chanting, "Bring out your dead!" In an attempt to keep up with all the burials.

If you were a public health worker, what steps would you take to protect people from an epidemic? Be specific.