Murrain (IPA: /ˈmɜrɪn/) is a highly infectious isease of cattle and sheep. It literally means "disease" and was used in medieval times to represent just that. The population of that era had no way of identifying specific diseases in their livestock so they simply put all illnesses under one heading. There were major sheep and cattle murrains in Europe during the 14th century, which combined with the Little Ice Age resulted in widespread famine during the Great Famine of 1315-1317, weakening the population of Europe before the onset of the Black Death in 1348. [The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century by William Chester Jordan]