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 ...
All world plagues and pandemics begin in China.
Lol- they will more likely get a tummy ache, get lissed about it, a d lash out at everything and everyone within chomping distance
Yep, dachshunds are good ratters. In fact, I think that is why so many pet daschunds are “high strung” and jumpy, nippy little things. They were meant to be worked daily to burn off all that energy, but when kept as lap dogs they have no outlet for it.
The biggest plague on mankind begins in Washington, DC.
Directed by Xi.
I suspect it was a range of infectious diseases, and Y. Pestis wasn’t the only player.
It is also interesting that Y. Pestis might have beat Columbus to the new world. Lots of rather interesting implications on that.
We have tried both types. Neither type seemed to work for us for rats or mice. Supposedly with the old D’con they went outside to get water and died outside your home. But we had plenty who died in walls or we had to hunt for their bodies in our basement. Sometimes the stench was so bad it was hard to tell where it was coming from. The traps seemed to work the best, but right now we have two feral cats that we put food and water out for. I am not sure how many mice and rats they kill, but their presence seems to have solved our rodent problems.
Go to a big chity like Chicago or New York.
Rats. Millions of them.
Here in the hinterlands we don’t see them much. Why? Cats, dogs, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and bored boys tend to thin them out.
Just saying ...
Oh, sorry. I get my slimy disease carrying rodents confused.
We have had nothing but dachshunds for the last 32 years. Although I know what you are talking about, none of ours have been like that. I have seen that more in dachshunds that have been bred with Chihuahuas or other toy breeds. Ours have been sturdy little guys with big chests that were afraid of almost nothing.
So I was right to hate the gerbils my college roommate had living in the dorm with us. And to hate the roommate, too.
I live in Chicago. Yes, there are probably more rats than people here. But at least they mostly stay in the sewers and only come out at night. The city constantly puts out bait but it’s a losing battle.
Lots of cats in the city, of course, but almost everyone keeps them as “indoor cats”, so they don’t help. We do have some hawks that have moved back in over the last 20 years or so, but they seem to prefer the squirrels and pigeons. Maybe we need owls to hunt the rats at night.
Interesting that some credit hygiene with ending the Black Death yet ‘science’ appears to have never analyzed transmission by feces, (animal, e.g., rodent, bird or, for that matter, flea droppings), human or otherwise (that I’ve seen).
I never believed the flea bite hypothesis, dating back to grade school. The orthodox “transmitted by the bite of a flea” is a functional blinder.
Where we are at the owls are some of the leading bunny and rodent killers. We came home one evening and an owl was on top of our mailbox tearing apart a large bunny.
Another time an owl moved in when we were having a problem with rodents and for the next few days we had to clear out piles of rodent pieces under the tree he favored so they wouldn't start to stink.
IIRC, coyotes are following the train tunnels into NYC to feast on the rats.
Rats. Millions of them.
And millions of rodents, too.
This makes sense given at the time human fleas and lice were the norm. Everyone had them.
Hadn’t thought about the city raptors moving out. We have eagles and falcons living on buildings. Nothing quite like walking out on a roof to find an eagle eating a rabbit
I have family in western Nebraska.
As a kid I was paid .25 cents per ground squirrel
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