Giant plague grave discovered in Nuremberg Germany

[Lilac]

It's sad to think that these graves have been lost over time & forgotten about only to be rediscovered. I'm fascinated when historical finds are found unexpectedly, but part of me thinks it's sad it's graves & someone's final resting place is being disturbed.

 

[hearlady]

I hope spores of the virus aren't released.
There have been some cases of late of bubonic plague in the US.

 

[George1959]

I hope spores of the virus aren't released.

As Holly already wrote it's the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Once I've had a lecture at the univertity "Epidemics in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period". The professor said that he would be very careful to open graves of plague victims, as it could be possible that there were still living bacteria.
Below an electron micrograph of masses of the bacterium from the Wikipedia article on Yersinia pestis.

Yersinia pestis - Wikipedia

 

[George1959]

There have been some cases of late of bubonic plague in the US.

Fortunately now there are highly effective antibiotics that kill the bacterium if used early. This is even possible for the more virulent pneumonic plague.

In the Middle Ages a lot of cats were killed because the church considered them as a companion of the devil. The result were the plague epidemics, since there were not enough cats anymore to kill the rats as the hosts for the rat fleas.

Cats in the Middle Ages

 

[Lilac]

I hope spores of the virus aren't released.
There have been some cases of late of bubonic plague in the US.

Every year there are cases of the plague in the US, usually out west where it's carried by the prairie dog population. It isn't unusual for this to happen.

Edited to add from the Cleveland Clinic: Bubonic Plague (Black Death): What Is It, Symptoms, Treatment