plague is a zoonosis caused by the yersinia pestis bacillus spread over the entire globe with the exception of australia and the antarctic , being also infrequent in the north of america . it is responsible for at least three major epidemics , the best known being the justinian plague ( 57 century ) and the black death ( 1315 century ) , and represented a true calamity with a major impact on the level of mortality of the time . whether it occurred in antiquity or during the later centuries , each plague epidemic represented a major public health issue . the fight against plague became more efficient once measures like quarantines and sanitary cordons were put into place in the 15 century , or with the emergence of the lazarettos ( plague hospital / infirmary ) . in his novel  the plague albert camus wrote :  as the order of the world is shaped by death , perhaps it is better for god that we do nt believe in him and struggle with all our strength against death , without raising our eyes to heaven and to his silence  . and such struggle can only be sustained by the means of civilization . the romanian principalities , regardless on which side of the carpathians , were not spared the calamity inflicted by the plague . according to huttman and barbu , the town of braov was hit by plague epidemics in 1338 , 15531554 , 17091710 , 17181719 , 17551756 , 17701771 , 1813 , the first descriptions in transylvania being provided by dr . sebastian pauschner , a braov physician , in his treaty of the plague published in 1530 . johann albrich ( 3 studies on the plague ) and priest josef szeli of braov . plague is a zoonosis caused by the yersinia pestis bacillus spread over the entire globe with the exception of australia and the antarctic , being also infrequent in the north of america . it is responsible for at least three major epidemics , the best known being the justinian plague ( 57 century ) and the black death ( 1315 century ) , and represented a true calamity with a major impact on the level of mortality of the time . whether it occurred in antiquity or during the later centuries , each plague epidemic represented a major public health issue . the fight against plague became more efficient once measures like quarantines and sanitary cordons were put into place in the 15 century , or with the emergence of the lazarettos ( plague hospital / infirmary ) . albert camus wrote :  as the order of the world is shaped by death , perhaps it is better for god that we do nt believe in him and struggle with all our strength against death , without raising our eyes to heaven and to his silence  . and such struggle can only be sustained by the means of civilization . the romanian principalities , regardless on which side of the carpathians , were not spared the calamity inflicted by the plague . according to huttman and barbu , the town of braov was hit by plague epidemics in 1338 , 15531554 , 17091710 , 17181719 , 17551756 , 17701771 , 1813 , sebastian pauschner , a braov physician , in his treaty of the plague published in 1530 . johann albrich ( 3 studies on the plague ) and priest josef szeli of braov . the book we bring to light and further discuss is entitled  istoricul ciumei in cluj la 1738/39 . this study was published under the auspices of the university of cluj , the institute for history of medicine , pharmacy and medical folklore , interim director valeriu bologa , md , phd ( figure 1 ) . alexandru lenghel , at that time honorary assistant at the institute for the history of medicine and assistant bacteriologist at the inspectorate for hygiene of cluj . according to its introduction the book was finished on 1 september 1930 . at that time , valeriu bologa was not yet full professor for history of medicine in cluj ; he was to succeed jules guiart as head of chair for the history of medicine . the book was printed by tipografia corvin publishers of cluj in 1930 . in the foreword by the mentor of dr . lenghel , the future professor valeriu bologa , this work is included in the field of historical epidemiology , and was later considered as having played a significant role in the field between the two world wars . bologa states that the book is a continuation of guiart s study on the pneumonic plague , subsequently followed by the studies of other investigators like colhon , prelipceanu and bologa himself . the book written by alexandru lenghel was multiplied in print on 160 pages of 230150 mm format and included 19 figures , 18 tables and a number of annexes consisting of official deeds , private correspondence , official protocols and diaries . the book was structured into 7 chapters preceded by a preface and a foreword and included among the cited references the great names of transylvanian medical history like adam chenout , martin lange or lucian bologa . in the introduction dr . he is also dedicating the work to adam chenot , a physician from luxemburg , who had established modern measures to fight the plague , had a major contribution to the eradication of the plague in transylvania and was in his own right the author of an important treaty on the history of plague , the  historia pestis transylvaniae ann . the chapters of the book are : the plague in transylvania ; the plague in 1738/39 ( figure 2 ) : statistics of the casualties ; measures taken by the authorities to contain the epidemic ( figure 3 ) ; evolution of the epidemic according to the protocol of the city sanitary council ; the morale during the plague epidemic in cluj ; the place of the cluj epidemic within the framework of the plague epidemic in transylvania ; references . as mentioned , the chapters are completed by four annexes : official deeds , private correspondence , official protocols ; diaries . the book closes with a summary in french , the scientific language of the time and a token of the french influence on romanian culture in general and on the romanian history of medicine in particular . the original work also includes some ancient engravings and photographs . the main contribution of dr . lenghel that needs to be highlighted is the presentation of the protocol of the sanitary council , previously ignored . the protocol reveals that plague prevention and fighting were organized similarly to the measures taken in the western countries at that time . an entire chapter is dedicated to the measures put in place by the authorities of the time aimed at containing the epidemic , based on the rules set for the entire empire and coordinated by a specialist board called aulica sanitatis commissio . the main measures concerned the closing of borders , quarantine rules and even the role of a medical structure : the sanitary board of sibiu . for the whole of transylvania the measures should have been implemented even before the outbreak of the epidemic , but unfortunately the imperial clerks treated the issue superficially , which caused the first cases to go unidentified in due time . the dispositions of the authorities of cluj can be found in documents like the protocol of the sanitary council of cluj of 1738 , or the diary of a unitarian theologian ( figure 4 ) . as to the human resources involved in fighting the plague , mention should be made of surgeon borbly dniel , replaced upon falling ill by fogarasi tefan , pharmacist clemens mihaiu specialized in plague patients , plague inspector borbereki ioan , patient commissar szentgyrgyi boldizsr , the undertakers and their commander , the recorder of the dead and deaths and the reporter of news concerning the dead ( figure 5 ) . the epidemic broke out , even though the authorities had tried to create a framework for prevention and containing , including the establishing of a lazaretto in the tanners garden in cluj . according to the statistics completed by dr . lenghel and following the analysis of the documents made available by him , we agree with the author of this impressive monograph that , just like at present , at first the authorities had tried to conceal the outbreak and then proved not only incapable of containing it , but also keep accurate records of its evolution . considered the last severe plague epidemic in transylvania , the description of the epidemic of cluj in lenghel s book is based on documents made available in the annexes : official local government documents of 1738 ( 12 ) , fragments from private letters ( 24 ) , official protocols ( 6 ) , excerpts from diaries of the time ( 2 ) . the book is little known , as confirmed by a recent work on the epidemics of north - western romania ( chi , florin ioan : epidemiile i eradicarea lor n nord - vestul romniei ( secolele xviii xix ) [ epidemics and their eradication in north - western romania in the 18 
 and 19 
 centuries ] , editura mega , cluj - napoca , 2012 ) , which does not make any reference to alexandru lenghel s monograph . alexandru lenghel ( 10 april 189710 october 1979 ) a novel contribution to pandemics in transylvania is the phd thesis in medicine and history of medicine of dr . alexandru lenghel , son of sofia colceriu ( culcer ) and sighismund lenghel , priest of the romanian church united with rome , greek - catholic in baia mare , maramure , romania ( figure 6 ) . the author published articles on the history of medicine in the specialist journals of cluj . he was honorary assistant at the institute for the history of medicine of cluj led by well - known romania specialist valeriu bologa . after 1935 alexandru lenghel took on his mother s maiden surname in order to continue a family branch that was dying out . he had a son , dan constantin culcer , who on his turn fathered three children , ioana , bogdana and matei culcer ( the latter born in 1984 ) dr . alexandru culcer , md is the author of studies on the glykon snake , and it was he who identified its statue in constana . he also published a number of novel brochures on the romanian physician , biologist and bacteriologist victor babe and the romanian physician , naturalist and explorer ilarie mitrea . this text in the romanian language was devised by dan culcer of elancourt , france on 27 july 2013 . although for a long period of time medicine proved incapable of treating this disease , hygienic and sanitary measure were taken from early on such as to reduce the impact of plague in the communities where it broke out . the presence of plague in transylvania made the local authorities implement measures such as disinfection and quarantine . an eloquent example of the negative effects of plague and its impact on the social and economic life of a city is alexandru lenghel s work on the plague of cluj in 1738/1739 , an epidemic of particular intensity and duration . nowadays plague has been replaced by other diseases , just as feared as the one caused by yersinia pestis .
plague is one of the most impressive diseases in the cultural history of mankind . 
 its lethality has influenced the evolution of society and it is frequently represented in fine arts and literature.the principality of transylvania was also affected by this infection , the plague having strongly impacted both economic and social development.between 1738 and 1739 an important plague epidemic spread in transylvania . the authors introduce and discuss a less known work on this epidemic , with focus on its impact on the city of cluj - a book written in 1930 by dr . 
 alexandru lenghel , who later became a target of political persecution during the stalinist period , while his work entered a cone of shadow .