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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 06:30 AM Mar 2014

New evidence shows the Black Death had to have been airborne — and not caused by rat fleas

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/30/new-archeological-evidence-shows-the-black-death-had-to-have-been-airborne-and-not-caused-by-rat-fleas/



New evidence shows the Black Death had to have been airborne — and not caused by rat fleas
By Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer
Sunday, March 30, 2014 9:12 EDT

Archaeologists and forensic scientists who have examined 25 skeletons unearthed in the Clerkenwell area of London a year ago believe they have uncovered the truth about the nature of the Black Death that ravaged Britain and Europe in the mid-14th century.

Analysis of the bodies and of wills registered in London at the time has cast doubt on “facts” that every schoolchild has learned for decades: that the epidemic was caused by a highly contagious strain spread by the fleas on rats.

Now evidence taken from the human remains found in Charterhouse Square, to the north of the City of London, during excavations carried out as part of the construction of the Crossrail train line, have suggested a different cause: only an airborne infection could have spread so fast and killed so quickly.

The Black Death arrived in Britain from central Asia in the autumn of 1348 and by late spring the following year it had killed six out of every 10 people in London. Such a rate of destruction would kill five million now. By extracting the DNA of the disease bacterium, Yersinia pestis, from the largest teeth in some of the skulls retrieved from the square, the scientists were able to compare the strain of bubonic plague preserved there with that which was recently responsible for killing 60 people in Madagascar. To their surprise, the 14th-century strain, the cause of the most lethal catastrophe in recorded history, was no more virulent than today’s disease. The DNA codes were an almost perfect match.
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New evidence shows the Black Death had to have been airborne — and not caused by rat fleas (Original Post) unhappycamper Mar 2014 OP
Perhaps malnutrition and a filthy, crowded environment had something to do with it? nt bemildred Mar 2014 #1
That is amazing that the bacterium has not changed. Chemisse Mar 2014 #2
I thought the Plague came in several types, one of which SheilaT Apr 2014 #3
As an amateur art historian I have read some books asserting that one of the major CTyankee May 2014 #4

Chemisse

(30,793 posts)
2. That is amazing that the bacterium has not changed.
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 04:31 PM
Mar 2014

And yet it is not as deadly now?

Perhaps those who survived the plague passed along an ability to resist the disease.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
3. I thought the Plague came in several types, one of which
Wed Apr 2, 2014, 01:29 AM
Apr 2014

has always been known to be airborne. That's the pneumonic version, and if I recall correctly was by far the most deadly. It sounds as if this study is overlooking the very real fact that fleas were hugely important, but as always happens, the disease mutated -- evolved -- and into the deadly airborne form.

The fact that Europeans of that era almost never bathed, were universally infected with lice and other vermin, and typically lived in close contact with farm animals (as in they lived in the same buildings) are all hugely important in the spread of Plague as well as other diseases, as well as the overall mortality of that era.

I am constantly pointing out that a huge difference between now and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 is that now we have almost universal handwashing (as sloppily as some people do it) and virtually universal access to soap and water to do that handwashing. A hundred years ago not very many homes in this country had running water. Washing one's hands on a regular basis simply wasn't very common, which is in part why the notion of washing hands before a meal was generally emphasized. Because those might easily be the only times hands were washed. If you used an outhouse, chances are you didn't wash your hands afterwards. Think about it.

It's the seemingly unimportant differences that really matter.

CTyankee

(63,769 posts)
4. As an amateur art historian I have read some books asserting that one of the major
Wed May 14, 2014, 04:25 PM
May 2014

Last edited Wed May 14, 2014, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)

consequences of the Black Death was the Renaissance. As fewer people shared in the same amount of wealth as there had been in the past, there was more individual wealth. The very trade routes that probably brought the Black Death to western Europe were also a big factor in the rise of the merchant class. They could spend more money on the finer things and chose to spend it on art, which was ostentatious but gave rise to more artists working and producing. Florence alone is an outstanding example. Art flowered there because so many artists flocked there to find work. You literally can not turn around in Florence without seeing another masterpiece...it is astounding...

Amazing, isn't it?

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