Carried out by local government officials of each city, including the mayor.
Public meetings, fairs and large funerals were banned, theatres closed, streets and alleyways swept and cleaned. Fires were set to burn on street corners, often in barrels of tar or strewn with sweet smelling herbs, to drive away miasma.
Cats, dogs and pigeons were killed if they were seen on the street. Around 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats were slaughtered because people thought they were helping to spread the disease.
The mayor appointed searchers and wardens to monitor the spread of disease. Going from house to house, checking for any plague victims. If a household was infected, the inhabitants were taken to the pest house or quarantined inside the house for 28 days. The house was painted with a red cross together with the words 'Lord, have mercy on us'