Posted on 01/23/2016 7:57:47 PM PST by BenLurkin
Black Death, a mid-fourteenth century plague, killed 30 to 50 per cent of the European population in just five years.
The pandemic was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria with millions dying from the disease in two major outbreaks.
Thousands of years before it wreaked havoc in the second wave of deaths, the bacteria may have been passed around as a harmless microbe.
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Being distinct from all modern forms of plague, the scientists believe they have identified an extinct form of the disease, according to their study reported yesterday in the online journal eLife.
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Marseille was a big hub of trade in the Mediterranean, so the Great Plague of Marseille could have been imported from any number of places by ship and cargo.
But she concedes that it equally could have been close to home.
"Our results suggest that the disease was hiding somewhere in Europe for several hundred years".
"It;s a chilling thought that plague might have once been hiding right around the corner throughout Europe, living in a host which is not known to us yet" explains Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the MPI in Jena.
He adds: "Future work might help us to identify the mysterious host species, its range and the reason for its disappearance".
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Scientists and historians have long believed the plague originated in Asia and was reintroduced to Europe a number of times.
But the findings from the German remains indicate it may have never left Europe's shores.
Instead, it lay relatively dormant in the host - suspected to be rodents - until an unknown event caused it to jump to humans again, like it had done three centuries earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What are wheat screenings, and how do you mix them with cement? Do you mean dry cement powder? I am looking for a way to kill squirrels, without harming anything else, such as birds, dogs or pets.
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When I lived in Carlsbad, ca 1960, NM asked folks to kill off as many jackrabbits as possible to slow the transmission of plague.
Every night, four of us guys would hop in my car and drive out into the young alfalfa fields along the Pecos River. Each of had a .22 handgun and a spotlight; we'd stop, turn off the headlights, wait quietly for a minute -- and, on command, light 'em up and cut loose...
When the spotlights came on, the fields looked like they were studded with white, black-tipped posts. After the first shots, the JRs would flatten out and crawl through the alfalfa, leaving a visible "wake".
Then, we would aim at the head ends of the wakes. (Curious fact about jackrabbit physiology: if you hit one in the head with a .22 bullet, it will, invariably do a backflip...) So, every few seconds, a jackrabbit would explode up out of the apparently-empty field!
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Sad fact: Those were the days before commonly-available hearing protectors and -- if you think about it -- with 4 guys shooting out through the windows of an automobile -- everyone has one ear next to the muzzle of someone else's firearm. :-(
Now, 56 years later, my ears are still "ringing" (severe tinnitus...)
But, .22 ammo was plentiful and cheap, and we four did our parts to thin the jackrabbit population and slow the spread of plague...
Wheat screenings are the residue left from cleaning grain. Mixture of small grain, cracks, fines, weed seed, etc. Commonly called chicken scratch in some places.
Cement mixed with wheat seed will work fine too. I don’t use wheat seed, because we sell and use it. I have lots of waste from the cleaning operation which I often give away. (I could sell it locally but normally don’t)
Not sure it will work with squirrels, but it probably will. The mixture of cement and grain is pretty effective on rats, works on mice but not as effective as on rats.
Thanks for explanation.
I lived in Silver City from 1973-1986. One of my customers bought pinion pine nuts from the locals back then. I returned years later and visited with him, he had already quit trading in them because of the issue we discuss.
Thanks, I will use it in the attic, but not out in the open.
Just mix up wheat seed (or other grain) and dry cement. Put it in a shallow tray. Bottom of milk carton or 1 gal. bottled water container cut off will work. This reduces the amount they scatter.
OK, sounds easy and cheap. Thanks.
Ship rat to sailor to prostitute to new john who moves on to a new town--all carrying diseased fleas that leap from one to the next and bite them--is easy for me to imagine. In fact, I'm fairly certain I've read that in different books.
Once thinkers at least figured out that outbreaks typically spread from major ports to the surrounding regions, in-bound ships often had to spend periods off-shore (says, a week or so) and the crew inspected by what passed for physicians from the port city to be sure no-one was showing symptoms of the plague.
If the crew appeared healthy, the ship could enter the port and off-load. If not, crewemen and sometimes whole ships would be quarantined until the danger passed.
You are a very lucky chap. Black plague has the highest mortality rate among all plague varieties.
I and 2 buddies got it from the vaccine.
The vaccine was defective. You’re right, I was luck that they had the right meds available.
One of the other two guys had meningitis for a secondary infection, but even he pulled through.
I know why it’s called black plague; you get black pools of blood under your skin from the tissue break down and hemorrhaging.
The really painful part is the immensely swollen lymph nodes, especially the buboes where your legs attach to your body.
As for the mortality rate, it is worse in the pneumonic form. I did not have that. I had the systemic form and my lungs were not involved.
Not having your lungs involved was good; I understand that is a real bitch!
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