Twain found himself in this boat (cough) more than once: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921690?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921690?seq=1 The first page

Twain found himself in this boat (cough) more than once: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921690?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2921690?seq=1 The first page preview is enough background to get an idea. If you have access, the plague material ends after about 2 pages IIRC.