It's actually not til mid January. It's actually been discovered recently that the black death was caused due to a comet that may very well be the same exact comet as Ison. It passes every 333 years and this year marks the 666 anniversary of the black death. It's also coincided with many plague outbreaks 333 years before and after the black death. According to scientists, we are going to see an unprecedented meteor shower unlike any other seen before that will hit us from two different angles simultaneously for several days. The entire Earth will be covered by this potentially plague carrying comet dust.