How Did Rats Spread the Black Death?
WouterIn most accounts of the Black Death, rats are the villains, but a new study suggests that they may have been a factor in the spread of the disease. Yersinia pestis is an ancient bacterium that causes the bubonic plague, and the fleas that rats carry are a major source of plague transmission. These fleas spread the plague from person to person in medieval Europe.
The disease is endemic in rodents around the world. It is not as destructive in humans, but it can quickly become a huge epidemic if rats start infecting people. The plague can infect humans through the bites of an infected rat or human flea, or from another person’s vomit. Scientists are still trying to find the best way to prevent the disease from spreading through people.
Researchers have long suspected that Central Asia may have been the source of the plague, but there are no definitive findings. In the early 14th century, the Black Death spread through Central Asia and the Black Sea. In 1346, the Mongolian army even threw the dead bodies of plague victims into the besieged city of Caffa, in the Crimea. Other clues come from archaeological records in Kyrgyzstan. Many of these victims were merchants and were buried with goods from the Indian Ocean. In addition, they may have traveled in camel wagons, which might have harbored rats. As fleas are another vector of the plague, they may have carried it through camel wagons.
The Black Death is the oldest recorded case of plague in history, but the origins of the disease are not known. The disease is caused by a parasite called Y. pestis, which circulates through rodent populations. The plague’s spread to Europe may have begun much earlier, in the rodent communities of Central Asia.
