It is believed that Yersinia pestis orginated in a marmot-sorta-thing, the tarabagan, native to the Taklamakan Desert of western China. They are a lot like prairie dogs, which can also carry plague-bearing fleas.
46 posted on 08/19/2017 9:31:37 AM PDT by Tax-chick
(You can't read all day if you don't start early in the morning.)