[arasina]

How strange that I read this about them calling it the "black wind of death" and immediately after that I see a thread about the Egyptian origins of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death).

Present-day Plague

"Most people think of the plague as a historical disease," said Hinnebusch, who conducts plague research for the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "But it's still out there, and it's still an international public health issue."

During the last ten years bubonic plague reappeared in Madagascar, which now has between 500 and 2,000 new cases each year.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization tallies as many as 3,000 plague cases each year around the world. Research interest in bubonic plague has been growing as, like anthrax, it could be used as a deadly bioterrorism agent (especially in pneumonic form).

Bubonic Plague Traced to Ancient Egypt (Black Death)

[texasbluebell]

Interesting post. Yes, the pneumonic form of plague...that's supposedly 100% fatal from what I'm reading.

And it spreads via fleas. Remember the "dog disease" threats some time ago.