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.
By Steve Connor Science Editor. History textbooks have got it wrong about the Black Death, which they say was caused by bubonic plague spread by rats and their fleas. A new study suggests that it was in fact caused by an Ebola-like virus transmitted directly from person to person.