The world took notice in the long run.

The survivors of the plague had it good though, salaries were up and the institution of serfdom was finished in western Europe, the stage was set for rapid modernization.

Also westerners got some level of immunity to these germs so that people in far off places would just die off when they came around.

The Plague was never really a problem outside of Europe because it required particular conditions. Other diseases did spread, but those didn't have the same apocalyptic effect on society.

When smallpox and other diseases rampaged across the New World the rest of the world didn't notice. It was geographically and demographically contained.

That's not the case now where things like SARS can go world-wide in a matter of weeks.

A failing society could cause considerably more damage today than at any other time in history.

No problem outside Europe? Asia is outside of Europe. Now the plague caused the decline of the Mongol empire - the first trans continental, almost global trading network, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Mongolica

Maybe it was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back but it doesn't seem to be the deciding factor in that decline.

Like the Roman empire before, the fractured bits of the Mongol empire survived for hundreds of years after.