Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Black Death may not have been spread by rats after all
Phys dot org ^ | January 18, 2023 | Samuel Cohn and Philip Slavin, The Conversation

Posted on 01/21/2023 7:16:22 AM PST by SunkenCiv

One of the most commonly recited facts about plague in Europe was that it was spread by rats. In some parts of the world, the bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, maintains a long-term presence in wild rodents and their fleas. This is called an animal "reservoir".

While plague begins in rodents, it sometimes spills over to humans. Europe may have once hosted animal reservoirs that sparked plague pandemics. But plague could have also been repeatedly reintroduced from Asia. Which of these scenarios was present remains a topic of scientific controversy.

Our recent research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has shown that environmental conditions in Europe would have prevented plague from surviving in persistent, long-term animal reservoirs. How, then, did plague persevere in Europe for so long?

Our study offers two possibilities. One, the plague was being reintroduced from Asian reservoirs. Second, there could have been short- or medium-term temporary reservoirs in Europe. In addition, the two scenarios might have been mutually supportive.

However, the rapid spread of the Black Death and subsequent outbreaks of the next few centuries also suggest slow-moving rats may not have played the critical role in transmitting the disease that is often portrayed.

(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: blackplague; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; yersiniapestis
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last
Selections from the Yersinia Pestis keyword, sorted:


1 posted on 01/21/2023 7:16:22 AM PST by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
It was spread by Climate Change anti-Vaxxers.
2 posted on 01/21/2023 7:18:42 AM PST by grey_whiskers ( (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

I thought it was the fleas on the rats that spread the disease?


3 posted on 01/21/2023 7:18:44 AM PST by Chgogal (Welcome to Fuhrer Biden's Weaponized Fascist Banana Republic! It's the road to hell..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

so what is this saying?

It wasn’t rats, bit it might have been Asian rats, and temporarily European rat reservoirs?

Or it was Asians. Probably conducting gain of function studies on the plague virus. And funded by some well meaning European country, since the US wasn’t around yet to provide the stupidity.


4 posted on 01/21/2023 7:22:55 AM PST by DannyTN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chgogal
"I thought it was the fleas on the rats that spread the disease?

BINGO... Fleas it is.. The plague sometimes shows up in the American west.. the fleas on prairie dogs, I think.?

5 posted on 01/21/2023 7:24:20 AM PST by unread ("It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required." W. Churchill.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: grey_whiskers
In all seriousness, the global cooling of the time (Little Ice Age) made deaths by plague a lot more common than the surrounding warm periods (Medieval Warm Period and Modern Warm Period).

It's one of multiple reasons to be glad we live in a warm period. Only a cultist can be made to hate the things in life that are the good things. The Democrat Party is without a doubt the most prolific cult in our country.

6 posted on 01/21/2023 7:26:45 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Tell It Right

Concur.


7 posted on 01/21/2023 7:27:34 AM PST by grey_whiskers ( (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: grey_whiskers

Rats spreading death? Some things never change.


8 posted on 01/21/2023 7:28:10 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (Once you get people to believe that a plural pronoun is singular, they'll believe anything - nicollo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: unread

Fleas. Zoonotic disease because fleas have no difficulty with infesting and biting transient hosts.

Side note, ivermectin kills fleas on a host. Just sayin’.


9 posted on 01/21/2023 7:29:39 AM PST by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

You win the thread!


10 posted on 01/21/2023 7:31:24 AM PST by grey_whiskers ( (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

They forgot to wear their plague masks?


11 posted on 01/21/2023 7:31:57 AM PST by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: grey_whiskers

The first plague pandemic began in the early sixth century and lasted until the later eighth century. The second pandemic (which included the Black Death) began in the 1330s and lasted five centuries. A third pandemic began in 1894 and remains with us today ...

1) Circa 600 AD - 800 AD.

2) Circa 1330 AD- 1830 AD.

3) Circa 1894 - 2023.

1) Circa 600 AD, the rise of Islam - the Islamic conquest & destruction of all of North Africa (from where its short boat trip to Spain) and Constantinople, the under belly of Europe.

2) Circa 1330 AD - 1830 AD, the rise of Islamic empires.

3) Circa 1894 AD and modern Islamic invasion of Europe ...

You do the math.


12 posted on 01/21/2023 7:35:24 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: grey_whiskers

And here I thought that the science was settled….


13 posted on 01/21/2023 7:37:03 AM PST by fhayek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Chgogal

I thought it was the fleas on the rats that spread the disease?

That has always been the general consensus. Fleas don’t need rats to be their hosts. Few if any of the flees that have bitten me jumped off a rat. My guess is that people in the middle ages were likely better at catching and killing rats than their modern counterparts, but that they didn’t have as many options when it came to poisons that used to be available to consumers these days.

Has anyone here tried the latest available rodent “poisons”? They are basically worthless. They seem to be based on the principal that the rodent will eat so much of it that it will get a bad tummy ache and leave. The active ingredient is now “Cholecalciferol which uses NO anti-coagulants or neurotoxins.” If you have a stash of the original D-con... it is now worth quite a lot. If the rats currently invading your domicile have fleas that are carrying the plague you had best look for someone who can get ahold of more lethal options.

Of course, I doubt whether any of the fleas which have munched on me over the years came from a rat. Most came from Fido or Fluffy or jumped on me from grass or bushes as they were waiting for some warm-blooded animal to come along.


14 posted on 01/21/2023 7:38:45 AM PST by fireman15 (Irritating people are the grit from which we fashion our pearl. I provide the grit. You're Welcome.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: PIF

Double-check: is there evidence of Mass Death among Islamic countries right before, or during, those times?

...or are you suggesting immunological naievete in Europe, similar to what Native Americans went through when first exposed to European diseases?


15 posted on 01/21/2023 7:39:11 AM PST by grey_whiskers ( (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: unread

“The plague sometimes shows up in the American west.. the fleas on prairie dogs, I think.?”

Rodents in general. Chipmunks are prolific carriers for some reason. Nebraska, four corners area.

Scientists studying bubonic plague routinely use Madagascar as a place for laboratory studies due to the high rate of transmission.

Bubonic plague attacks the lymphatic system. There is a cure, but apparently eradication isn’t possible.


16 posted on 01/21/2023 7:44:29 AM PST by Clutch Martin ("The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: grey_whiskers

Nope. It was spread by Democrats


17 posted on 01/21/2023 7:44:35 AM PST by Afterguard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: unread
Ground squirrels are the primary host, I believe. Smaller and “rattier” than prairie dogs.

Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel:

Prairie Dog:


18 posted on 01/21/2023 7:45:29 AM PST by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: DannyTN

Rats from Wuhan.....just sayin!


19 posted on 01/21/2023 7:47:11 AM PST by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom
Rats spreading death? Some things never change.

Especially the Rats in DC.

20 posted on 01/21/2023 7:47:52 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-94 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson