During this pandemic, the United States saw its first outbreak: the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904. At the turn of the 20th century, the world was gripped by a plague pandemic that had spread from China to port cities around the globe. To send this chapter to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. 250 A.D.: Cyprian Plague. The Plague of Justinian, the first record of bubonic plague, lasted from 541 until 750. The First Plague Pandemic was the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.Also called the Early Medieval Pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 and continued until 750 or 767; at least fifteen or eighteen major waves of plague following the Justinianic plague have been identified from historical records. However, the plague kept popping up for over 200 years, and collectively this period was known as the First plague pandemic. Plague and the End of Antiquity - December 2006. The First Plague Pandemic was the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.Also called the Early Medieval Pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 and continued until 750 or 767; at least fifteen or eighteen major waves of plague following the Justinianic plague have been identified from historical records. The cause of the disease is bacterium Yersinia pestis. The First Plague Pandemic was the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.Also called the Early Medieval Pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 and continued until 750 or 767; at least fifteen or eighteen major waves of plague following the Justinianic plague have been identified from historical records. The second being the Black Death, and the third being an outbreak in China in the 19th Century. Today, sporadic cases of plague still occur in the western United States. Black Death that lasted from 1331 until 1353. The Plague of Justinian had a profound and lasting effect on world history. Third plague pandemic (1855): Starting in China, it spread into India, where 10 million people died. Named after the first known victim, the Christian bishop of Carthage, the Cyprian plague entailed diarrhea, vomiting, … This pandemic started in Egypt and killed between a quarter and a half of the population at the time.