Swine flu. Bird flu. The media has everyone worrying about epidemics and pandemics. Yet there is nothing said about one of the great communicable diseases of all time: the plague. The Black Death. No, it is not extinct. There are new cases of plague in the United States every year, totaling over 400 cases since 1950.

And yes, there is a vaccination for it. So have you had your plague shot? You haven't?

Why isn't your doctor urging you to get one? Do you know anyone who has had a plague vaccination? Then why is there no plague epidemic? And why is vaccination supposedly the only way to stop a flu epidemic?

What is striking about the plague is that it is still around and practically no one gets it. One must keep in mind that this disease killed 50 million people. Eventually, the great Black Death epidemics ended. Somehow. The epidemics were not stopped by killing every flea, every rodent or every house pet. The epidemics were not stopped by antibiotics, nor were the epidemics stopped by mass vaccination. Neither was available.

So if the entire population of the USA is not vaccinated against the plague, why doesn't it spread now in 2009 the way it spread in the past, killing at least one in four? Generally, improved sanitation and improved nutrition are credited with such a victory. If these work with plague, they might make a rather big impact on the flu.

Flu shots can have serious side effects. Perhaps even more importantly, they are largely ineffective. Flu shots are big news, and not a few would say that they are big business. But there has been no governmental push whatsoever for plague vaccination.

How come we supposedly need the one shot, and not the other?