Possible Clues:

• Coppers guarding steps, evil force
• A little money taking steps in a plague
• Steps into the money during plague
• Great evil
• A deadly epidemic
• The disease is, to the French and the Italian, in pennies
• Epidemic requires change, taking steps
• Steps taken to cut money -- it's an agent of evil
• In epidemic, exercise discretion about temperature
• Steps to cut money — very bad idea