Generally, a person may be punished for sedition only when he or she makes statements that create a Clear and Present Danger to rights that the government may lawfully protect (schenck v. united states, 249 U.S. 47, 39 S. Ct. 247, 63 L. Ed. 470 [1919]).
The epidemic reached its zenith in the years 1348 to 1350, though the disease never vanished entirely. It is widely believed that the cause of the Black Death was bubonic plague, an infectious and fatal illness spread by rodents and the fleas infesting them.
The Black Death. Yersinia pestis, also known as the Black Death or the plague, wreaked havoc long before the age of the Renaissance. The ancient Greeks experienced plague epidemics, as did the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. Originating in Central Asia, the plague spread to China and India, where it left their ports and arrived in Europe aboard rat-infested ships. The rats carried fleas that bit humans, transmitting the disease. Early symptoms of the bubonic form of plague included fever, sweating, shaking and weakness. Some caught the pneumatic form, which affected the lungs and caused coughing in addition to the other symptoms.