The last epidemic before COVID -19 - The 1945 bubonic plague in Malta

Richard ‘Dickie’ Toledo, active during the 1945 plague epidemic. Photo courtesy of the National Archives The scary outbreak of bubonic plague in Malta in June 1945 hardly hit the islands like the traditional bolt from the blue. After the devastating pestilence of 1813, which killed over 4,500 victims, Malta had remained relatively plague-free, except